For Earth and All Her Colonies
by GADPELLAEON
Summary: Post Human-Covenant War AU. After the Great War, all the UNSC wants to do is rebuild and live in the peace. A peace that so many died for. What happens when they learn that no matter what, war will always find them. Chapters Updated - Chapter 11 uploaded (07/08/2019) Any criticism and/or tips welcome.
1. Timeline

**AN: This is just here to give you a bit of background lore to this AU. If you feel like skipping it, please go right ahead. It shouldn't affect your reading experience or the story too much.**

* * *

 **Timeline**

 **2553**

The Human-Covenant War, officially called the Great War, officially comes to an end. Hundreds of worlds burned, turned into glass through Covenant orbital plasma bombardment. Earth, the birthplace of humanity still bears the scars of war. The once proud UNSC navy once numbering in the thousands has been reduced to a mere few dozen ships. Billions of humans, both civilian and military alike are dead. The population dropped from 43 billion humans down to a mere 20 billion, the numbers of colonies have gone down from 180 planets down to just 17. Despite all the loss and suffering, humanity begins to rebuild.

The remaining UNSC ships are ordered to return to Earth to regroup and defend the portal leading to the Ark. A total of 59 ships are left with only a single Marathon heavy cruiser remaining, the rest are a mixture of destroyers and frigates.

The Elites, now recognized as the Sangheili, return to Sanghelios to rebuild themselves as an independent race. The Unggoy, Mgalekgolo, and Huragok all choose to remain with them. The Sangheili however, spent centuries as the warriors of the Covenant, and have lost their ways and knowledge of how to live as civilians. While they still retain a powerful and vast military, things begin to fall apart as maintaining such a force and kick-starting an economy proves difficult. The Sangheili as well as the races who left the Covenant, vow to never again take up arms against humanity ever again, and while they understand it will take time to humanity to trust them, they are willing to wait. The Arbiter, Thel Vadam, forms a new feudal government, with his equivalent of Lords, Kaidon's, forming a council to advise him. Though in effect, Thel Vadam remains as the Commander in Chief of the Sangheili military. His first order of business, eliminate the remaining Prophets and Jiralhannae strongholds scattered throughout the galaxy. The new Sangheili alliance with the former Covenant species is known as the Sangheili Union. The Unggoy, Huragok, and Mgalekgolo are listed as full citizens and aren't too bothered about the name of their new government.

On December 25th, 2553, Lord Hood formally relinquishes the UNSC's emergency powers back to the newly reorganized United Human Federation. The UNSC will continue to control all military aspects of the UHF, while the UHF will run the civilian governments responsible for Earth and her colonies. Humanity learns its lessons from the UEG, and this time respect the colonies wishes for a larger say in dictating policy. Every colony is granted a seat in the newly formed Senate, with each colony electing a senator to represent the Colony's interests. In addition to a seat in the Senate, each colony is given more autonomy over their respective colonies, this is to placate the populace and prevent another insurrection as before the Great War.

 **2554**

The Sangheili military, after nearly a year of constant warring with the remaining Covenant strongholds, begins to fall into disrepair. The lack of a strong economy, as well as a lack of proper infrastructure and auxiliary units, prompts the Arbiter to approach the UHF with a desperate proposal. They would exchange technology such as shields, ship-grade weaponry and the rare but vital Huragok for human civilian experts to remodel their fledging economy as well as to establish a solid bureaucracy. Lord Hood, while still not trusting the Sangheili completely, agrees and orders the technology be studied and integrated into the UNSC fleet and army.

Vice Admiral Parangosky, the head of ONI, dies of natural causes. Commodore Veronica Dare is promoted to Vice Admiral and takes over. She immediately begins a purge of ONI, eliminating all those with die-hard loyalty to Parangosky's legacy. She reins in ONI's black-ops and after a long and heated debate with Lord Hood releases all information of the Spartan program to the public. While many are horrified with the decisions used by ONI, they all come to recognize the need and benefit of the Spartans. Vice Admiral Dare amends the Spartan program so that only volunteers from the armed forces may join, though it remains that if a child between the ages of 11-16 shows potential he/she may join if given consent.

On the anniversary of the ending of the Great War, an hour of silence is observed on Earth. The Arbiter dispatches representatives aboard the Union Vessel (UV) Forgiving Legacy, one of their last few CAS class assault carriers. Though distrust remains between the humans and the Sangheili, signs of rapprochement begin to show.

 **2555**

The first of the new ships incorporating Covenant technology is produced. All UNSC ships now have energy shielding, plasma projectors, and torpedoes as well as pulse laser point defence systems. However, the UNSC has created a new weapon known as a PMAC or Plasma Magnetic Accelerator Cannon. The PMAC is similar to its predecessor, the MAC gun, the only difference is that when fired, the MAC round is encased in superheated plasma causing additional damage upon impact. Union technology increases the effective firing range of UNSC weaponry as well as their rate of fire. Despite the new technology, the UNSC opt to keep their beloved missile systems, replacing the ageing Archer missile with Howler and Rapier missiles.

 **2559**

With an economy showing signs of growth, the Sangheili Union begin to expand and set up colonies, many of these colonies are on former Covenant planets with existing populations. They absorb them into the Union and begin using the revitalized Sangheili fleet to patrol their space.

The new flagship of the UNSC Navy, UNSC _Infinity_ , along with her sister ship UNSC _Eternity_ are commissioned into the fleet. Designed during the Great War with the intent of being pure weapons, they had every scrap of Covenant and Forerunner technology incorporated into them. _Infinity_ and _Eternity_ are given their own task forces with one objective: Find the remaining Halo rings and decommission them before they could fall into the wrong hands.

Lord Hood, along with senior members of the Admiralty, devise the "Hood Protocol". It puts into effect policy and courses of action to combat the Flood threat.

In April, UNSC _Eternity_ stumbles on to a Dyson sphere at the location of the former ONI world of Onyx. There they recover Doctor Catherine Halsey and her team of Spartan II's and III's. Renamed Trevelyan, the sphere is turned into a joint UNSC-ONI research base, where engineers and scientists work to reverse engineer the treasure trove of Forerunner technology. The Spartans were given the option of honourable retirement from the military, or to stay on and train the next generation of Spartan IV's, all of them accept the latter option.

 **2560**

While on a survey mission, the Union cruiser _True Intentions_ discovers the UNSC _Spirit of Fire._ After boarding the vessel and waking the remaining crew from Cyro, Captain Cutter is convinced of the peace that now existed between them. With the lack of a spare slipspace drive, the Shipmaster of the True Intentions conducts one of the riskiest moves ever recorded and tows the Spirit of Fire through slipspace back to UNSC space.

The return of the UNSC Spirit of Fire is treated with as much pomp and circumstance as one could imagine. The crew is treated like heroes and Captain Cutter was promoted to Rear Admiral, the Spirit of Fire turned into a museum and is placed above Memorial Hill in Voi. This also leads to a new high in Union-UHF relations, and just 3 weeks later, the UHF and the Union sign a mutual military and technological alliance. It calls for the guarantee of each other's sovereignty as well as the promise to come to each other's aid in times of need. Minor details include further trade agreements and joint-fleet exercises.

 **2565**

After the annual review of the UNSC Navy, Lord Hood orders the planning of a new set of fleet warships. These ships will incorporate the best of Union, Forerunner and Human technology.

After a miscalculation of slipspace coordinates on board the destroyer UNSC _Reunification_ , it ends up in deep space. There it makes a shocking discovery. Sitting barely 500,000 kilometres from it was a massive space station. The station had the similar aesthetics of a UNSC station, only on a much larger scale. It's straight lines and blocky surfaces gave it an ugly, yet beautiful look. It almost resembled 2 Pheonix class Colony ships back to back, flanked by 4 Cradle class repair ships- 2 on either side. Jutting out from the centre of the station was a tall pillar. A ring ran around the pillar and was connected to it by 8 long beams. The size of the station is estimated to be at least 900km long, 500km wide and some 150 kilometres tall. The radius of the ring is recorded as some 150km.

After reporting this discovery back to HIGHCOM, Lord Hood dispatches the UNSC 5th Fleet to seal off the space surrounding the station. He also informs that President of the UHF who in turn informs the Union of this development.

Expeditionary teams are dispatched to the station to learn more about it. They discover the station had been built by the ancient Human Empire years before the Human-Forerunner War. Following the destruction of ancient humanity, the Forerunners occupied the station until their own destruction at the hands of the flood. It is assumed that the activation of the Halo array cleared out the station of all Flood forms. Nevertheless, Lord Hood orders every millimetre of the station scanned and cleared of all Flood presence, if there is any. A massive force of over a million men begins combing the enter station, involving the UNSC First and Second Army groups and all the Marines attached to the 5th Fleet.

The Sangheili Union finally declares victory over the Jiralhannae and the Prophets. The Prophets have been rendered extinct, their kind wiped out. The Jiralhannae were eventually pushed back onto their home planet of Doisac. They were stripped of all advanced technology and eventually they resulted in warring amongst themselves on their home planet. A small flotilla of 8 Union ships remains in orbit over Doisac to watch over them, to prevent them from rising up once again.

 **2566**

The space station found the previous year, after being painstakingly scanned for any flood presence is finally given the all clear by the UNSC. Dubbed Bastion by the troops, the name sticks, and the station is officially given that designation. After much discussion with the UNSC High Command, _Bastion_ will be turned into the third most important military asset after Earth and Reach. It will also act as the command and control centre for UNSC fleets operating in outer UNSC space.

Workers and personnel begin renovating the station for UNSC, while strategists begin to plan defences for the soon to be shipyards.

 **2580**

15 years after it's discovery, _Bastion_ is commissioned into the UNSC military. As a shipyard as well as the command and control centre for several UNSC fleets, it's security is of the utmost importance. At all times, a fleet of ships will be stationed there to supplement the Super PMAC platforms in the security of the station.

 **2590**

More than 30 years after Lord Hood ordered a new breed of UNSC warship, the project is completed:

The Charon class frigates are modernized with new weaponry, armour, and shielding. The famed Paris class frigate is to be retired from frontline service, and used for logistical support; the larger more modular Eridani class frigate replaces them.

The Warhammer class destroyers replace the ageing Halberd Destroyers. Supplemented with a PMACs, Howler, and Rapier missiles, TYR tactical nuclear missiles, and a pulse laser defence system. New technological advances allow for a much more efficient plasma fusion reactor to serve as the primary power source, allowing for faster speeds and recharge rates to be achieved. The ship is armoured in almost 8 metes of new Titanium AA plating, which allows for incredible amounts of punishment to be received.

Replacing the old but reliable Halycon light cruisers are the Whitcomb light cruisers. Taking inspiration from the UNSC Pillar of Autumn, the Autumn class cruisers are developed and fulfil the role of the UNSC's new heavy cruisers. The Marathon and Valiant class cruisers are phased out in favour of the new Keyes class Super Heavy Cruisers, though designated as command ships they could still pack a punch and hold its own in a fight. A subclass of the Keyes class is developed called the Poseidon class; they are pure ship killers, sacrificing speed and some offensive weaponry for a more powerful super PMAC on the bow.

The Cradle class Mobile Repair Docks were replaced with the Epirus class Mobile Repair Docks (MRD), these were much larger than their predecessors and its modular repair docks could be easily customized to fit any ship in the fleet.

4 new classes of ship were conceived: the Cole class battleships, the Vindicator class heavy fleet-carriers, the Armageddon class battle-cruisers, and the Dauntless class dreadnoughts. It is estimated that it will take 12 years to replace all current UNSC ships and an additional 8 for the new fleet expansion program with shipyards running around the clock.

 **January 2592**

The UHF surpasses the number of colonies they had before the Great War and begin to temporarily halt all colonization efforts in order to further consolidate their position.

UNSC armed forces reach an all-time high. The Home Fleet, at a staggering 900 ships defends Earth and the Sol System. With another 30 fleets spread out over UNSC space. The navy reaches over 12000 vessels in active service.

ONI commissions the Gobi class prowler, a replacement for the ageing Sahara class. Including all the latest developments in technology, the Gobi had the ability to remain cloaked for an indefinite period of time while reducing its ability to be detected. The Gobi class, in theory, had the firepower of a destroyer, but it was considered to be the last resort option only.

The colony of New Madrid discovers an object of unknown origin at the system's edge. Once encased in ice, it was identified as a dwarf planet by sensors. However, reports from the planetary defence fleet indicate that it is given off 'strange' readings that the sensors could not identify. It's shaped resembled that of a tuning fork, a 20km long tuning fork.

The UNSC 8th Fleet, operating out of _Bastion_ , deploys for joint fleet exercises with the Union 5th Fleet, to test tactics and unit cohesion. For this, they are deployed to a newly colonized system on the fringes of UHF territory known as New Geneva.


	2. Chapter 2: Warn them

**4** **th** **January 2592**

"Hull breach! Hull breach! Deck 5, frames 15 through 17. We're venting atmosphere Captain."

"Damage control teams, hull breach on deck 5, frames 15 through 17. Seal off frames 14 and 18 on deck 5."

"Captain that last shot took out the power couplings for the PMAC. Primary weapon capabilities are offline. Missile pods C3 through D5 have been expended, commencing reload."

"Reactor is failing Captain. Both secondary backups are offline and the primary is hanging on by a thread."

"SOMEBODY PUT THAT FIRE OUT."

"We've lost external comms, we can no longer send out messages sir."

The Captain looked around him, and all he saw was death. His XO was killed not too long ago, crushed beneath a beam. The damage reports kept coming in; any sense of cohesion on the bridge was just about maintaining itself through years of training. Fire and sparks erupted throughout the bridge, the marine guards valiantly trying to put them out.

 _Without long-range comms, there is no way we can warn the others._ The Captain thought to himself. Sighing to himself, he looked out the viewport; hundreds of enemy vessels surrounded his ship firing relentlessly. He was thrown off his feet when an explosion shook the entire bridge.

"Multiple torpedo hits on the engines, we've lost propulsion."

The Captain looked around. _No engines, weapons are failing, slipspace drive is gone, no comms. There's nothing much we can do now. Unless…_ He mentally slapped himself for not thinking of this earlier. _It's our only shot to warn high command. Otherwise, it will be weeks before they realize._

"Weapons!" He shouted out. "Give me a firing solution for the quantum comms buoy at the edge of the system. Whatever we have left, missiles, nukes I don't care what. But I want it taken out." His officer looked back at him, confused.

"The quantum comms buoy sir?"

"Just do it, Ensign! It's the only way we can warn high command of what has happened."

"Aye sir, acquiring the target." The Ensign replied, sadness laced into his voice realizing that this is the end.

The Captain stared at the holotable in front of him. _Comms go out every day from this system. In the eyes of HIGHCOM, silence for one day would suggest a maintenance issue. Two days would suggest a serious fault. Three days would mean that something has gone wrong and they would begin looking into it. Five days and a battle-group would be dispatched._

An explosion and a cry of pain interrupted his train of thought. He looked over to his side, only to see his helmsmen on the cold metal floor. She wasn't breathing and her once spotless uniform was now covered in burns.

"Missiles away." His weapons officer called out. A few painful minutes passed by, with more crew dying by the second before his weapons officer called out once again. "Target destroyed sir. The quantum comms buoy is no more."

"Captain! Engineering reports that the reactor is going critical, they cannot stabilize." The damage control officer reported. Her voice gone quiet, realizing that death would soon embrace them.

 _The Cole Protocol has been carried out, and now HIGHCOM will now what has happened here. I only hope that the garrison on the planet below will be able to hold out longer than we did._ In what was to be his final moment, he stood straighter and addressed the crew.

"Ladies and gentlemen. We're going down. It has been an honour, and my utmost pleasure to have served with each and every one of you." He looked around, his crew staring back at him, with sadness, pity and defeat. "But let us remember why we fight."

He let those words hang in the air for a few seconds. "For Earth and All her Colonies. For the preservation of the UNSC, the UHF and humanity."

The remaining bridge crew stood to attention and saluted him, and as one shouted, "For Earth and All her Colonies."

The Captain managed a weak smile and returned their salutes. Seconds later, he watched as an explosion engulfed the entire bridge. And finally, he was at peace.

* * *

 _Office of Naval Intelligence_

 _Clearance: Level 2 (Analyst and higher)_

 _Department: ONI Section 1_

 _Report Subject: Colonies - New Madrid_

 _Date Published: 23rd March 2589_

 _New Madrid is a Class M world on the edge of UNSC controlled space, bordering the Sangheili Unions southern border. Initial colonization population of 2 million but records show growth to 6 million in under a year. Not the most strategic location in the galaxy, but the vast Titanium AA deposits highlighted by survey teams will grant the colony some strategic value._

 _A total of 7 planetary bodies in the system, the closest to the star being a Class J and the furthermost a Class D ice planetoid. No spatial anomalies detected by the survey teams._

 _It is the belief of this analyst as well as his superiors that given time, the strategic importance of New Madrid will only increase, especially to the Navy. As far as HIGHCOM is concerned, naval expansion has never hurt. For its current protection, the 101st Cruiser Squadron along with the 292nd and 293rd Escort Squadrons will be assigned. The 95th Army group will maintain a presence on the colony. In summary:_

 _4 Marathon MK II class Cruisers (Modernised versions)_

 _10 Halberd MK II class Destroyers (Modernised versions)_

 _12 Eridani class Frigates (Standard Loadout)_

 _18,000 troops from the 91st Armored Division and the 304th Infantry Division belonging to the 36th Army Group_

 _PMAC platforms are expected to be constructed on sight. ETA to completion, February 2592._

 _UPDATE: 2nd January 2592_

 _The last planetoid in the system, the once believed ice dwarf planet, is not what it seems. The frigate UNSC Beholder (FFG 28845) was conducting a routine system patrol when the navigator brought them closer to the said planetoid in question. It must have triggered something as the planetoid broke into several pieces and revealed a structure of unknown origin and make. Initial reports claim that scans are unsuccessful due to sensor interference from the structure. The structure resembles a large tuning fork, almost 20km long._

 _This analyst recommends the alert level be raised to Condition 2 and a science team be dispatched with all haste._


	3. Chapter 3: Marching Orders

**10** **th** **January 2592**

 **UNSC** _ **Isoroku Yamamoto**_ **, Dauntless class Dreadnought**

 **1251 GMT, New Geneva**

512 ship captains were present and more were coming in, filling up the already crowded hangar on board the _Isoroku Yamamoto_. The fleet admiral had called for a fleet conference on-board the flagship, physical attendance was optional, but everyone knew that should you wish to avoid a kick in the ass from the admiral, physical attendance was mandatory. Which was why Captain Athena Greyson had taken a shuttle over the moment the notice was sent out.

Rear Admiral Dunheart was a bit of an old timer; normally fleet-wide conferences were done digitally for convenience sake. But Admiral Dunheart wanted to address his captains in person, as he normally did, he believed that personal touch in these matters never hurt. The admiral was well liked amongst the fleet for his personal touch; he respected the opinions of his captains and treated them well. Though he tried not to show any favouritism, Athena could tell who his favourites were and luckily, she was one of them. For a man in his late 60s and despite being in the fleet for over 50 years, he still carried himself well with pride as he mounted the podium overlooking his subordinates.

"Captains and commanders of the 8th Fleet." He announced. "It's good to have you all on board and to see you in person, not that you had much of a choice anyway." Athena just about managed to contain her laugh, but at the corner of her eye, she could see that other captains were struggling to maintain their composure.

"This system is New Geneva, a recently colonized system with a colony on the 4th planet that has a population of 15 million. We are here to conduct joint fleet manoeuvres and war-games with the Union Fleet of _Eternal Repentance_. It's been nearly 40 years since the end of the Great War, and humanity has come a long way since then. A lot has changed to, we're friends with those who once sought to destroy us, but no one said that we couldn't be better than them. Let us show HIGHCOM and the Union what the 8th Fleet is capable of. After all, what is our motto ladies and gentlemen?" He asked, raising his voice towards the end.

In unison, the captains and commanders shouted while raising their palms to their officer's caps in salute. "FIRE OF HUMANITY."

Dunheart returned the salute, straightening himself in the process. "Return to your ships, and await further orders. We will wait for the Union to arrive before we begin forming up."

* * *

 **UNSC** _ **Bay of Salamis,**_ **Armageddon** **class Battlecruiser**

 **1330 GMT, New Geneva**

The pelican ride over from the _Isoroku Yamamoto_ had been uneventful for Athena, but her shuttle trip was somewhat longer than most other commanders in the fleet. Her command, the Armageddon class battlecruiser _Bay of Salamis_ , was on the periphery of the UNSC's formation. The _Bay of Salamis_ , command ship of the 21st battle-cruiser division and her accompanying escorts, was one of the new classes of warships that Lord Grand Admiral Hood had ordered for the UNSC Navy. And she was a beast, a magnificent breathtaking, awe-inspiring beast. Equipped with the latest Forerunner Hard-light shields, they could take up to eight PMAC shots before failing, but even with no shields, the Armageddon class battlecruisers is covered in 10 meters of Titanium AA plating. Like the rest of her class, the _Bay of Salamis_ is fitted out with five hybrid ion-fusion engines that allow the heavily armed battle-cruisers to just about keep pace with heavy cruisers at flank speed. Those elements represented her shield, but her sword was just as deadly. She was armed with three PMACs, two energy projectors, eight TYR nuclear silos, 120 oversized Howler and Rapier missile pods, 40 'Mini MAC' deck guns and a point defence system consisting of 80 pulse laser CIWS guns and 100 twin 90mm turrets. Across the entire 2.4km length of her hull, the _Bay of Salamis_ was covered from bow to stern in weaponry. With a complement of 7000, she has no dedicated ground troop compliment, no fighter or bomber craft and only a regiment worth of marine guards. She is meant for one purpose and one purpose only: to engage an enemy ship and obliterate it off the face of the known galaxy.

The four marine guards standing outside the bridge blast door snapped to attention and saluted Athena as she stood in front of them. She returned their salutes and proceeded to walk through the door. The sounds of chattering and consoles greeted her, and she instantly felt home. The command bridge of a ship was somewhat therapeutic and had been her home since she left the academy almost eight years ago.

"Captain on deck!" The marine guard announced. Instantly the entire bridge went silent, snapped to attention and turned to face her. Each officer and crewman raising their hands with incredible precision in salute, palms facing down and the tips of their fingers touching their foreheads.

She returned the salute without breaking stride. "As you were."

The crew dropped their salutes, the noise level rose once they resumed their duties. Athena walked over to the holo-table in the centre of the bridge and examined it. At the very centre of the UNSC formation was the dreadnought and flagship _Isoroku Yamamoto,_ along with the majority of the fleet's Vindicator class heavy carriers. Around them were the Cole class battleships, ships that could dish out and take tremendous amounts of punishment. Surrounding the core of the UNSC formation were the cruiser and destroyer escorts that served to protect the larger capital ships from smaller more manoeuvrable foes. To the rear of the fleet were the fleet auxiliaries, the large Epirus class Mobile Repair Docks, the ships responsible for keeping the fleet supplied. Finally along the edges of the fleet spread out at equal distances relative to each other and the centre, were six battle groups like the 21st battle-cruiser division, groups of ships able to strike and manoeuvre independently of the main fleet and exploit gaps in enemy lines. On the table, little dots moving between ships represented shuttles or pelican drop ships moving about. While little triangles forming a larger triangle represented the fighter squadrons flying CAP around the fleet. Altogether it was an impressive display of professionalism and might that represented the UNSC.

"So, did the admiral give us any orders?" A voice cut in.

"We wait for the Sangheili to show up," Athena replied without looking up from the holo-table.

Her executive officer, Commander Duellos, walked and stood on the opposite side of the holo-table from her, placing his hands on the table. "Ah, the lovely game of waiting." He said while chuckling to himself. "Did the admiral really not give any other orders? No formations orders or anything?"

"Nope." Athena replied, "Nothing at all, other than we're to give the Sangheili a good show and a taste of what the UNSC navy is capable of, all simulated of course."

"The Sangheili warships have been vastly improved since the Great War, they might give us a run for our money. Or at least, so the ONI reports claimed." A third voice chipped in a much higher tone.

"Amelia, have you been sneaking around in places you're not supposed to be sneaking around?" Athena asked at the surface of the table rather sarcastically.

An AI hologram appeared, an orange human form wearing a crop top and some skinny jeans resembling a teen from the 21st century. "I got curious and bored, but mainly curious." As said as she lightheartedly tried to defend herself, her English accent as clear as a crystal.

"Well since you've already gone digging, did you find anything useful?" Athena replied.

"Preliminary reports indicate that the Sangheili have a new type of energy projector, as well as improved plasma torpedoes and shielding. At least, this is all according to ONI. There's also-" Amelia was about to continue before she was cut off.

"Captain! Incoming transmission from the _Isoroku Yamamoto,_ Admiral Dunhearts personal ID tag is attached to it." The communications officer interrupted.

"Put it through to my ready room Ensign." She ordered while walking off to her small glass office connected to the bridge. Shutting the door behind her, she reached for a small panel on the wall and toggled the privacy mode.

As the glass walls around her went black, electronic pulses went around the office powering up powerful jammers that essentially blocked all electronic signals going in or out. No signal could come in or go out, no one could look in and no one would be able to hear anything, perfect for private communications from the Fleet Admiral. Despite Athena natural trusting attitude to her subordinates, she was a Captain in the UNSC, and the chain of command had to be respected.

The holoprojector in the corner of the office hummed to life and projected a full standing replica of Admiral Dunheart. Despite being nearly 70 years old, the man carried himself as if he was 30 years younger. Granted the life expectancy of the average human had shot up considerably in the last 20 years or so, but it didn't change the fact that this man was disproving the "the older you get the physically weaker you are" stereotype.

Athena snapped to attention and her hand naturally shot up to her forehead in salute. "Admiral sir."

"At ease Captain." Athena relaxed, but she tilted her head slightly, obvious body language that she was wondering the reason for the Admirals call. "How's your crew and ship?"

"At 100% Admiral, we're all geared up and excited for the joint fleet manoeuvres. I have a running bet with the Captain of the _Black Prince_ on whose ship will perform better during these exercises." She replied happily, enthusiasm evident all over her words. Normally Captains were not this informal with their commanding officers, but she and Dunheart went a long way back. He had been her space warfare tactics teacher back at the academy, and she was his top student. The year she graduated was also the year Dunheart got promoted to Admiral was given command of the 8th Fleet. Naturally, he took her on as his protege, and she served aboard his flagship for a few years before being given command of her own ship.

"I'm afraid you're going to lose that bet Captain. You won't be joining us for these manoeuvres."

Athena heart stopped. Thoughts were racing through her head faster than a ship through slipspace. _What? Why? Have I done something?_ Finding the strength to compose herself, she calmly asked, "Admiral, I don't understand. Why will I not be joining the manoeuvers?"

"FLEETCOM has something else in mind, they want you to-." Before he could finish, she cut him off.

"Admiral, I must protest, the crew have been-"

"Let me finish Captain." He answered sternly, placing emphasis on the last word clearly reminding her that he outranked her. Athena forced herself to keep her mouth shut and she watched as the Admiral's hand moved to a console off-screen. He brought up a planet along with an ONI report. "This is the colony _New Madrid_. A fairly new colony, but one with some importance to the Navy. A population of 15 million with a defence fleet of 26 ships."

Athena stared at the planet, it didn't seem too special, just another planet in the vast UHF empire. Keeping an eye on it, she turned her focus back to the Admiral.

"6 days ago, we lost contact with the planet. No communications at all. And the neighbouring colonies have confirmed that no UNSC vessels or vessels of any kind have been received. Standard UNSC protocol would be to dispatch a battlegroup to investigate and report back. As the closest UNSC force in the area, naturally, the order came to me." He paused for a little bit before continuing. "So I'm sending you."

Finally understanding the situation a little better, she asked again. "I understand Admiral, but why me? Why not any of the Captains in the other battlegroups?"

He looked her at and clasped his hands behind his back. "Look at the ONI report."

Athena walked to her desk and picked up a pad there, keying in her authorization codes on her way back. She brought up the report and began skimming it, but something caught her eye which caused her to look back at the Admiral with some concern. "Some of it has been redacted. In fact, nearly the entire update of the report has been redacted."

"Exactly." The Admiral replied. "ONI redacting material is not new, but Section 1 redacting a report like this while HIGHCOM doesn't hear from a colony in five days, something is not right. That's why I am sending you, because I know I can depend on you. Take your whole division with you, find out what's happening, assist in any way possible and report back to the fleet."

Finally understanding the Admiral's reasons, she stood straighter and saluted. "Aye sir, we'll be departing within the hour."

He nodded in approval. "Very well, Admiral Dunheart out." His hand reached for a button off-screen and his hologram fizzled out.

She reread the ONI brief once again paid special attention to the redacted part, trying to spot anything that might give her a clue. Getting nowhere, she put down the pad and headed back to the bridge. "Commander Duellos. Plot us a course to the colony of _New Madrid_."

Shocked by the order, he looked up from the console he was inspecting and shot Athena a confused look. "Captain?"

"We have new orders, the colony has gone dark for the last six days, protocol dictates a battlegroup moves to investigate. We are that battlegroup. Begin slipspace jump prep." She replied, shooting him a look that screamed, almost telepathically, _There's more to this than meets the eye, but I will brief you and the senior officers later._

"Aye Captain." Nodding in acknowledgement before he started calling out. "Comms, contact the rest of the division, tell them we're breaking formation and moving out. Flight ops, coordinate with the rest of the division, dock all fighters and pelicans. Engineering, spin up the slipspace drive…"

While he continued with slipspace jump prep, Athena watched as her crew went about preparing for slipspace jump. Her ensigns calmly giving orders all around the ship to secure for a jump. She walked over to the holo-table in the centre of the bridge and spoke to Amelia. "Amelia, how long is the transit time from here to _New Madrid_?"

Despite slipspace jump calculations being incredibly complex and difficult, Amelia finished them in less than a millisecond. "Transit time will be just under 12 hours."

Satisfied, Athena stared at the table as 20 square dots, representing her the ships in her division, began to break away from the main fleet. She felt the vibration of the deck as the ship's ion-fusion engines kicked in and propelled her forwards. Shooting a quick glance out of the viewport, she saw the blue of ion-fusion engines belonging to the other ships of the fleet be replaced with the blank black emptiness of space. With each passing minute, the ships of the 21st battlecruiser division drew further away from the rest of their comrades.

"Captain, all stations secure and ready for jump." Commander Duellos finally called out.

"Very well." She acknowledged. "Helmsman, commence jump."

Amelia spoke over the shipboard tannoy, "All hands, the Captain has ordered us to commence a slipspace jump. Jumping in 3...2...1"

As Athena stared out the viewport, as the MK X Shaw-Fujikawa slipspace drive opened a slipspace portal in front of them. The _Bay of Salamis_ moved into the portal, with the other ships of the 21st battlecruiser division opening their own slipspace portals soon after. As the blinding white portal engulfed the entirety of her ship, the ship was soon moving at speeds much faster than the speed of light.

In 12 hours, they would arrive at _New Madrid_. Being the optimist, Athena sincerely hoped for the best, but deep down inside, she knew something was wrong.

* * *

 _Office of Naval Intelligence_

 _Clearance: Level 3 (Commander and higher)_

 _Department: ONI Section 1_

 _Report Subject: Ship Commanders - Battlecruisers -_ Bay of Salamis - _Athena Greyson_

 _Date Published: 1st July 2588_

 _Summary of Captain Athena Greyson_

 _Captain Athena Greyson enrolled in the UNSC academy on Earth at the age of 18. From the start, HIGHCOM has been keeping a close watch on her. A stellar student, she excelled in every class and was popular amongst her fellow cadets. A hard worker who did not believe in giving up. It should be noted now that she shared an intense rivalry with another cadet, now Colonel Chloe Haynes of the 101st ODST Division._

 _Greyson's teacher in the academy, now Admiral Gavin Dunheart, recommended she be sent to command school. Within two years, she had once again proved that she was capable of accomplishing any task given. Dunheart made her tasks more challenging, while she struggled with them originally, she overcame them. Another instructor is quoted to have said: "Has the tactical brilliance of Admiral Cole and sheer lunacy of Jacob Keyes.". She graduated top of her class and once Admiral Dunheart was given command of the 8th Fleet, he took her in under his personal command._

 _After performing admirably under Admiral Dunheart, and under his advisement, Greyson was promoted to Captain and given command of the_ Bay of Salamis _along with command of the 21st battlecruiser division._


	4. Chapter 4: Ground Sluggers

10th **January 2592**

 **City of Archam**

 **1449 GMT, New Madrid**

 _Damn them. Damn them all to hell._ Major Ramirez thought to himself as the reports came in over the radio. The aliens had taken defence line BETA. That meant that there was only defence line CHARLIE remaining before the aliens would overrun the command centre. Sitting in an abandoned apartment with what remained of his battalion, this was the first proper rest his men had gotten in nearly a week of constant fighting. His once 1000 strong infantry battalion was now reduced to around 500 men, half his battalion wiped out in just six days of fighting. Here they formed part of defence line CHARLIE, where the battalion had occupied two apartments split apart by a street running down the middle. They had been pulled off the front lines to recuperate, but since BETA fell, that now meant that they were back on the front lines. Ramirez sat on the rubble covered floor and leant back against the wall. The constant staccato of small arms fire in the distance reminding him that the planet was a war zone. He paused to think back to himself the events of what happened over the last six days.

He remembered being deployed to defence line ALPHA the moment the generals had heard that UNSC defence fleet had engaged with an unknown force. A few alien ships had broken off from the space battle and managed to identify and destroy all long-range comm satellites in orbit over the planet. After they had taken out the satellites, Ramirez didn't know what happened, presumably they re-joined the space battle. Without the satellites in orbit, there was no way the ground forces could send a message out or even check on how the space battle was progressing. His superiors noted that the only way to send a message for help would be to destroy the comms relay at the edge of the system, but they prayed that the Navy could handle the intruders. They were proved wrong. Only hours later did swarms of what he presumed were enemy transports craft flood the skies of New Madrid. At first, they made for Archam, the capital city of New Madrid, but that proved to be a mistake. The 91st Armored Division had managed to deploy all of their AA units in the city, shooting down many transports. That was when they got either really stupid, or smart. They started landing their troops outside the city. Why they simply didn't just bombard the living crap out of the UNSC ground troops, no one knows, but it meant that they wouldn't die so helplessly.

He remembered seeing them charging over open ground, with infantry and APCs. From a distance, he couldn't really tell what they looked like, but it didn't matter, he swore an oath to protect humanity, and that was exactly what he was gonna do. Their infantry seemed to have some shielding, but it wasn't very strong, a couple bursts from the MA7s broke it and they were killed soon enough. Their APCs were a different story, they had much stronger shields and the main gun tore many of his men to shreds. But what was most surprising about them was their speed, those things were fast. Ramirez reckoned it could give a Warthog a run for its money. Despite their speed, they could still be destroyed, rockets and tank shells solved that problem. Of course, by the time the APC's were dealt with, their infantry was right on top of them. Fighting would then be CQB and more men died which forced the defenders back and back. The next few days would be the same pattern over and over again. It was only on the third day that he finally got a good look at the enemy. He had just put a whole mag into an alien right in front of him, once he was sure it was dead, he analysed it. It looked avian, which sharp facial features and two mandibles. That was all he managed to get before they got the retreat order.

"Major, you better come take a look at this, we've got hostiles entering the street below." A lookout called out to him.

Ramirez stood up and walked over the lookout who called him. "Where?" He asked, taking the electrobinoculars from her.

"800 meters Southwest. I counted 4 APCs and about 200 infantry." She pointed out the general direction.

Ramirez looked through the electrobinoculars and saw exactly what she had reported. A column of 4 alien APCs moving slowly through the streets with the infantry on the flanks as well as a few point-men. Judging by their speed and the way they were turning their heads, they were scanning the buildings for hostiles.

Studying their formation for a few seconds, he thought to himself. _The ideal range for engaging would be about 300 meters, rockets into the APCs, snipers to pick off their lead elements and heavy machine guns to lay down suppressing fire._ He quickly shifted his eyes to another apartment across the street and saw what was left of Charlie Company taking positions by windows, waiting for his order to open fire.

He triggered his comms unit, one that was meant for short-range transmissions between him and his company commanders. "Alright listen up, we're going to engage that enemy convoy up ahead. I want a sniper team to pick off the lead elements, then rockets to hit the first and last APCs, once they go up, the entire battalion will open fire. Snipers are to mark officers as priority targets. They go first. Open fire on my order. Oorah?"

"Oorah." Replied several people.

"See to it." As he turned to study the convoy again, his company commanders were issuing orders via hand signals. As the men and women of his battalion took up firing positions at random intervals, a rocket launcher team came up and set up right next to him. Hefting the 20kg launched onto her shoulder, the operator sighted the first APC in the alien column, while her loader put in a PHEAT cartridge in.

"Wait for it," Ramirez whispered. _Just a little bit closer. That's right, just keep taking a few more steps._ As the seconds dragged by, it felt like an eternity. The nervousness was getting to him, sweat started to roll down the side of his head and his mouth all of a sudden became dry. _NOW._ "Snipers, take them out."

A floor above him, a shot cracked out and hit its mark, the 50cal high powered ammunition ripping through whatever shielding it had like a hot knife through butter. Immediately, the entire alien column stopped and the infantry began scattering for cover they could find in the rubble infested streets. That would prove to be a fatal mistake, or at least that was what Ramirez hoped.

"BACKBLAST AREA CLEAR" The loader of the rocket launcher team called out, tapping the helmet of his partner.

"Firing!" She squeezed the trigger and out a rocket flew. Travelling at 300m/s, the rocket flew towards the first APC impacting it on front armour, the explosion taking any unlucky bastard still standing within the explosion radius. Seconds later, she fired a second rocket, again hitting the first APC on its front armour. Enough damage must have been done to it because the APC turned into a bright orange and blue fireball.

"OPEN FIRE!" Ramirez heard his company commanders order. Immediately, hundreds of rounds began pouring from the occupied apartments onto the streets below. The constant light staccato of the MA7's contrasted with the heavy much deeper bangs of the sniper rifles. A heavy machine gun team had set up not too far away from him, unleashing streams of deadly 50cal armour piercing ammunition. A rocket team in the building across from Ramirez fired another pair of rockets at the last APC. But they were ready, the APC managed to reverse back quickly enough, the rockets hitting the street instead, blasting rubble into the air.

Then they started shooting back.

Blue tracers ignited from the alien formation, hitting of the exterior of the apartment. Some found their mark as Ramirez heard a cry in pain. He turned and saw a private clutching his shoulder in pain, his shoulder pads blown clean off.

"MEDIC! I NEED A MEDIC OVER HERE!" Someone called out.

Ramirez raised his own M400 DMR and began firing into the aliens. He sighted an alien with his 4x scope and pumped four shots into it when it's shielding broke he fired another round straight through the head. The sheer volume of fire his men were firing was beginning to take its toll on the enemy forces. Tens of enemy infantry were falling to UNSC bullets. That was when Ramirez noticed the main guns on the remaining enemy APCs turn and fire. He never saw the rounds leave their barrels, but he did see the destruction they brought. The two rounds impacted and exploded in the building where Charlie Company was holed up. From his position, smoke obscured his view of the aftermath, but over the comms, he could hear the chaos and screams.

"Shit, they got the commander! Someone get him out of here!"

"FUCK!"

"For the love of all things good, someone take out those APCs"

"Rocket up, on its-" The squish of a bullet going the victim was heard and then static.

"Major!" Someone on the comms called out to him. Ramirez ceased fire and took cover behind a wall. "Lieutenant Lee here, those APCs nailed Captain Miles, he's gone sir."

Ramirez cursed silently to himself, Miles was one his senior officers who commanded Charlie Company. "Very well Lieutenant, you're in command now."

"Yes sir." Came a nervous reply.

"Keep pouring it into them. Concentrate on the infantry, I'll get Bravo Company to deal with the APCs."

"On it sir. Keep up the fire-" That was all Ramirez heard before the comms cut.

Intending to keep to his word, he turned to the rocket team next to him. "Hit that last APC! Send them to hell."

"Yes sir!" The operator replied, sighting in the rear-most APC. After being given the all clear from her loader, she squeezed the trigger twice in rapid succession. Two rockets flew out and impacted the APC, knocking it out. The loader was in the process of reloading when the last remaining APC turned its main cannon towards them and fired.

Ramirez watched as the blast engulfed the rocket team and claimed a few unlucky privates who were near them before being thrown off his feet. His ears were ringing and he could feel blood rolling down his cheek. His back felt weird and his vision blurred. A private came over.

"-you ok?" Ramirez's hearing started to come back to him. "Sir, are you hit?"

Shaking him off, Ramirez managed to pull himself up. "I'm alright private, keep firing."

"Major!" His comms rang out. "All our rocket teams are dead or incapacitated! We have no anti-armour capability."

Ramirez stared blankly into space. Without rockets, they couldn't take out the APCs which were going to rip them to shreds. While a decent number of their enemy infantry had been killed, there were still enough to finish them off with the support of the APC. As he began to accept his fate, and mentally prepare himself to not see his loved ones again, a female voice called out to him on his comms.

"Major, this is Corporal Lockheart of ABLE Company. We're on the ground floor here and we can take out that APC sir."

"Corporal how? I was under the impression that all our rocket teams are out." He asked.

"They are sir, but I have a satchel charge on me. If you can cover me, I'll make a run for the last APC."

 _Are we this desperate now?_ Ramirez thought to himself. "Negative Corporal sit tight, hold your position, we'll find another way."

"Major with all due respect, if I don't do this, we're all definitely going to die here."

 _Damn her, she's right. And she knows it'll be a one-way trip._ Ramirez didn't like sending good soldiers to their deaths, but if he didn't approve this, the changes that his entire unit would be wiped out was high. _Such is the burden of command._

"Very well Corporal." He reluctantly gave in. "I'll get the whole battalion to cover you."

"Thank you sir. It's been an honour sir, make it count." Corporal Lockheart's voice came back, saying the last sentence with some sadness.

Ramirez switched channels on his comm to his entire battalion, or whoever was left. "Alright listen up! ABLE is going to try to take out that last APC. I want the entire battalion to lay down cover fire. Kill anyone who tries to stop them."

His men ceased fire temporarily and aimed their assault rifles at new targets. "On my mark…..SUPPRESSING FIRE!" He shouted out. Hundreds of assault rifles started emptying their 80-round magazines into the enemy formation, only pausing to reload. The lone heavy machine gun team that survived the enemy onslaught firing till its barrel started to glow a hot red.

Ramirez watched as Corporal Lockheart and three other men broke cover and started sprinting to the last APC. Reaching again for his DMR, he sighted an alien who just took down one of the men following Lockheart and was shifting to get a shot off at Lockheart. He sent three rounds into its head, painting the street blue. Which each passing second, Lockheart got closer and closer to the APC until she was in throwing distance. He watched as she primed the explosives, but as she was about to throw it, an alien popped open a hatch on the APC and managed knick her in the shoulder, dropping the satchel charge as she fell. Ramirez turned to fire at the new target, but a sniper beat him to it and put a bullet through the aliens head. He returned his attention back to Lockheart, and what he saw astounded him.

Corporal Lockheart was crawling...actually dragging herself closer to the APC. One hand pulling herself, the other clutching on to the satchel charge. Even without seeing her face, Ramirez could tell that she was in great pain, and only sheer determination pushing her on. Another alien tried to stop her, but he was caught out in the thousands of bullets still pouring out from the UNSC position and killed.

A full minute passed before she reached the wheels of the APC. As she lay the explosives right underneath the belly of the APC, she shot a glance back towards Ramirez, gave a weak smile and salute. A second later, the explosives went off claiming her and the APC.

Seeing their last APC go up in flames, the remaining enemy infantry started falling back. It wasn't an unorganized rout, rather a skilful rearguard was put up as they fell back. As they moved out of sight, the firing lessened until a near total silence dominated the battlefield. Only the licking of flames from the burning APC wrecks and the cries of the wounded making any sound.

Ramirez lowered his DMR and scanned the battlefield. Satisfied that the enemy had withdrawn, he toggled his comms to his company commanders. "All units, status report."

It was a few minutes before he got a final count. Out of the 520 men he had at the beginning of the battle, there were now only 250 combat effective men left. 130 were killed, the rest wounded. Charlie Company was all but wiped out, having been reduced to a three dozen or so men. It soon dawned on him that in effect, he effectively had maybe a single combat effective company left. From his original three to his current one.

He inwardly sighed to himself, watching through his electrobinoculars as he observed what was left of Bravo company scour the streets below, some were recovering Corporal Lockhearts body from the streets below, some were looking for potential prisoners and the rest were collecting weapons and other useful intel. Alien bodies were strewn everywhere, littering the street. The wreckage of the alien APC's still burning a brilliant orange, their main guns still pointing at the apartments they were targeting moments before their demise. A sudden movement from his troops below caught his attention, a private was standing over an alien, shouting to his CO and gesturing him to come over. Another figure ran over and knelt down.

Ramirez's comms crackled to life, "Major, Captain DeGrasse here, we got a live one."

Instinct took over before Ramirez had a chance to seriously think over his orders. "Secure him Captain. Take it prisoner; if it's wounded pump it with biofoam. The generals will want to see this. I'm on my way down to have a look."

"Copy that sir. We'll do what we can" Came the reply before the connection was cut.

Ramirez had never run so fast in his life before, he sprinted down 14 flights of stairs jumping over bits of rubble that obstructed him. As he entered the street level, he slowed himself down and briskly walked over to Captain DeGrasse. The company medic was seeing to the alien's wounds, pumping a clean bullet wound full of biofoam. As Ramirez looked down, he stared at the alien for what would be his second good look at one. Recalling his previous encounter, this only confirmed his memory, the alien looked to be at least six feet tall and had mandibles around what looked like its mouth. As he moved his eyes further down the alien, he noticed that it only had two proportionately long fingers on its hands and a thumb, each with talons on the ends. The alien's chest was rising and sinking very slowly, but it was clear that it was unconscious, to say the least. Ramirez turned his attention to the medic, who looked back at him and gave him a thumbs up, indicating that the alien would live, or so he hoped.

"Major." A lookout called out to him. "Friendlies coming in."

Paying full attention to his surroundings, he felt the street vibrating beneath him and he saw the rubble shaking. He ran onto a mound of rubble to get a better view, and he sighed a breath of relief. He saw UNSC army troops coming in, mostly on foot, followed by countless Warthogs of all variants and a squadron of the new K-Dragon tanks bringing up the rear. Ramirez marvelled at the latest of forerunner inspired human engineered designs. The K-Dragon tanks were the newest addition to the UNSC armoured forces, like their namesake, they were heavily armoured and carried a very powerful punch. Its predecessor, the beloved Scorpion tank, was only retired two years ago.

A figure stood from one of the Warthogs, held a hand up and clutched it, signalling the convoy to stop. As the convoy halted and the infantry dismounted, the figure walked over to Ramirez. He immediately recognised the silver UNSC eagle on the shoulder pads. He wearily raised his palm to his forehead in salute. "Colonel sir!"

The Colonel looked at Ramirez for a brief second before returning his salute. "Major. What's your unit?"

Ramirez pulled himself a little bit straighter as he dropped his salute. "42nd Infantry Battalion, 321st Regiment, 304th Infantry Division."

The Colonel looked back at him with sadness in his eyes, "Major I regret to inform you that the remainder of your regiment sustained heavy casualties. They've been moved to the rear to be reorganised. I'm sorry."

Ramirez was shocked. _Are our losses that bad? The entire regiment is being reorganised?_ Before he could think again, the Colonel interrupted him.

"Major, give me a status report on the battle that just happened." He asked. Ramirez gave his report on the firefight in great detail, covering the initial engagement followed by the destruction of the enemy APCs and the loss of his rocket teams, followed by the heroic sacrifice of Corporal Lockheart. The Colonel listened intently, waiting for Ramirez to finish before speaking. "Very well, your troops are being relieved, head back to Division HQ and rejoin your unit. We will take over your position here."

"Colonel, one more thing." Ramirez blurted out as the Colonel was turning around. "We took a prisoner."

Stopping halfway, the Colonel turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Where?" A sudden tone of desperation in his voice.

Ramirez gestured to the alien now being carried on a stretcher, arms lying by its side. "We just found him shortly before you arrived. He was wounded in the firefight, we pumped him full of biofoam and our medic says it'll live."

The Colonel watched as the stretchers bearers guided the hovering stretcher towards the rear of the lines. "Major, you've managed to take the UNSC's first prisoner of this alien race. Congratulations." Holding his hand out.

Ramirez took it, grasping the Colonel's hand firmly as he continued. "They're tough bastards, we haven't had the chance to take one alive without killing it somehow. The generals over at division HQ will want to see this. Take one of the transport Warthogs, it'll get you there faster."

"Thank you, sir. We'll get moving now." Ramirez replied. He looked at the stretcher bearers before nodding at one of the transport variants of the Warthogs near the front of the convoy. He opened a channel to Captain DeGrasse, "Captain, take command of the battalion, get them back to Division HQ. Give me three of your best shooters, they will be riding back with me and the prisoner back to Division HQ. This prisoner is a priority."

"Understood Major, see you later." Came the reply.

Ramirez turned back to the Colonel, itching to know more. "Sir, if I may, how goes the battle for the planet?".

The Colonel stared back at Ramirez, and then looked at his surroundings, taking it in. The fire, the smoke, the destroyed buildings, the bodies. "I'll be honest Major unless if reinforcements arrive soon, we're looking at the capitulation of the garrison within four days. Small arms ammunition is running low, as is ammunition for our tanks and heavy artillery. Medical supplies are also being rationed. Ever since we lost ALPHA and BRAVO, we've been fighting for every inch of ground, and it's taken its toll. We're sure the enemy has lost more troops than us, but there just seems to be an unlimited number of them. To make it worse, what few aircraft we have left aren't enough to challenge enemy air superiority."

Sadness overcame Ramirez, the fact that they might all actually die here. _Is this what it would have felt like at the beginning of the Great War? Every success we have just only seemed to delay the inevitable._

Almost as if sensing his thoughts, the Colonel continued. "But Major. It does not matter whether help arrives or not. We will fight on till the end, for the populace of this planet and to ensure the safety of humanity. We must believe that HIGHCOM will not abandon us, protocols are in place for events like this. But for now, I must go, Major, I must see to the deployment of my men." He turned around and started issuing orders out, instructing his men to take up positions in the buildings and to prepare to meet the next inevitable enemy assault.

Ramirez felt something, a sense of duty and hope in his soul that convinced him to fight on. The UNSC would not abandon them, not like this. And even if the garrison of New Madrid fell, just like the garrison at Harvest all those years ago, he felt assured that the UNSC, in all its might and glory would come back swinging to avenge them. Smiling to himself, he strode off to the waiting Warthog.

* * *

 **PFS** _ **Palaven,**_ **Turian Hierarchy dreadnought**

 **Orbit of New Madrid**

In orbit around the planet, New Madrid sat one of the many prides of the Turian Hierarchy. The 12th Fleet waited in orbit, its ships enforcing a strict blockade. Frigates and fighters ran regular patrols around the planet, ensuring that nothing got out. The heavier capital ships had formed taken positions around the flagship. Admiral Alnius stood aboard his flagship, one of the Hierarchy's newest dreadnoughts, the PFS _Palaven_ and watched out a window as a cruiser slowly drifted by, it's blue engines contrasting against the black of space.

 _These aliens, are stupid. Stubborn but stupid, they cannot possibly comprehend the risks of activating a Mass Relay._ _In fact, they should consider themselves lucky that at worst, they become a client race to the Hierarchy and at best, they join the Citadel._ _What if it was the Rachni or the Krogan who came through that relay instead of us._ Alnius thought to himself.

He drifted further into thought. _But technologically speaking, they are rather advanced for a species that's never made it off its homeworld. No eezo on their ships? Firepower that could destroy a cruiser in a single shot? Evidence of energy shielding? If the Hierarchy could get their hands on this tech, it would ensure our dominance for centuries. But the use of nuclear weapons, barbaric._ He twitched at the thought of watching a ball of light engulf a significant number of his ships.

When the aliens activated the relay in this system, the 12th Fleet had been patrolling its the system with its partner relay, guarding it against smugglers and pirates from Terminus systems who would have wanted to seek expansion through it. Of course, when Alnius took the majority of his fleet through the relay, they had been expecting smugglers or pirates, not an unknown species. He was determined to uphold Citadel Law, it was the only law that mattered yet his vision of a quick victory dissipated when the enemy ships demonstrated the ability to destroy one of his cruisers in a single shot. However, these alien ships, while definitely more powerful than his own vessels, were terribly unmanoeuvrable, his ships ran circles around them with little damage to themselves. They also possessed a form of advanced shielding, not kinetic barriers, but a fully functional energy shielding, at least that's what the preliminary data suggested.

Alnius, deciding that quoting Citadel Law in this instance would benefit him and the Hierarchy in pacifying these aliens. They had broken three laws: the use of nuclear weapons, the construction of ships exceeding the Treaty of Farixen and the activation of a Mass Relay.

Alnius took the advantages he had, speed and superior numbers and exploited them to its fullest. After all, he had almost 800 ships against 26 ships. Destroying the enemy fleet had cost him some 120 vessels, including most of his cruisers. These kinds of losses would have immediately gotten him a court-martial during a time of peace, but he immediately realised the potential of the enemy weapons and ships. If he could secure that technology for the Hierarchy, then he might even be looking at a promotion. It was exactly that which prevented him from communicating his findings to the Council, they would have intervened by now with the Asari and Salarians sneaking off bits of tech for their own benefit. But he was now wondering if he had made the right decision, it had been almost a week since their arrival and progress planetside was not fast enough.

Turning away, he walked over to the Quantum Entanglement Communicator (QEC) at the rear of the bridge and dialled in General Vitallios, commander of the 24th Turian Expeditionary Force attached to the 12th Fleet. The hologram of the general came up, and before Alnius could talk, he was beaten to it.

"Admiral, what can I do for you this fine day?" Vittallion asked rather impatiently, subtly hinting that he had more important things to do. He shot a stare at Alnius with his right eye, his left eye covered in a scar that he obtained from a close call with a Krogan Battlemaster a few years ago.

"General Vitallios, how goes the campaign to take the planet?"

"Progress has been made since we last talked, we broke through the second defence line earlier today and we should break the last one within two days. If the spirits are willing. Fighting is now restricted to the city and the enemy is becoming desperate, resulting in suicide attacks on our Makos. These aliens are tricky and stubborn, though what can you expect when you invade their homeworld." He reported.

"Have you acquired any intelligence of their forces?" Alnius asked, sounding hopeful as his attempts had been less successful. The enemy computers they recovered the debris in space had been either wiped clean or too heavily encrypted and many of the components that belonged to the enemy ships were no longer functioning, meaning that there was a small chance that the Hierarchy could successfully reverse engineer them.

"We have captured some firearms but other than that, no. Their firearms seem primitive yet efficient, but the reports I'm getting from my frontline commanders report that they are particularly effective against our men. The kinetic barriers can hold up to maybe five to eight shots before collapsing. In fact, their heavier weapons almost completely ignore our barriers. As for our Mako's they've proven that they can handle the small arms fire, but not their rockets or their tanks. Their resistance is almost fanatical, any attempts to take prisoners have been unsuccessful, they really do fight to the last man."

Stroking his right mandible, Alnius tried to picture the situation on the planet below. "I understand, I'll have the carriers deploy closer the planet, and I will divert more fighters from the Combat Air Patrol to you."

"I appreciate your efforts admiral. With the new air support, we should break through at a faster rate. We will teach these aliens that they cannot best the Hierarchy, and we shall reap the benefits of our conquest here today."

Alnius saluted the general, "For the Hierarchy."

Vitallios returned the salute. "For the Hierarchy." He pressed a button off-screen and his hologram disappeared.

Alnius walked back to the bridge and stared at the massive holographic projection in the centre displaying the formation of the fleet. The fleet was deployed over the largest city on the planet, attempting to support the ground forces with orbital reconnaissance and limited orbital bombardment using frigate grade mass drivers.

Bringing up his Omni-tool, he briefly glanced over the fleet status reports fleet status. Other than some damage from anti-air fire to one of his frigates, there was nothing else of note. While glancing through more reports, he thought to himself. _These aliens are proving to be very resilient and stubborn, they have to be hiding something down there that I don't know about._ He frowned for a second, before his eyes widened. _Spirits, what if this isn't their homeworld, what if it's just a colony._ _What if they are in fact another interstellar-_ his thoughts were interrupted by his sensor officer sitting at her console.

"ADMIRAL" She called out. "I'm detecting radiation signatures a million kilometres from our position!"

* * *

 _Office of Naval Intelligence_

 _Clearance: Level 2 (Analyst and higher)_

 _Department: ONI Section 1_

 _Report Subject: M850 MBT_

 _Date Published: 2nd May 2590_

 _The M850 'Komodo-Dragon' MBT (more commonly known as the K-Dragon) is the replacement for the M808B 'Scorpion' MBT. Introduced this year, it features a 125mm auto-loading cannon capable of firing all types of shells manufactured by the UNSC, a 40mm autocannon (which can be replaced with a flamethrower) and two 7.62mm machine guns. It's overall shape and design is similar to its predecessor, only that its turret is wider and lower. It has a crew of three consisting of a driver, a gunner and a commander who doubles up as a machine gunner. A commander was added to the M850 MBT as it was theorised that it would integrate better into the chain of command, having a commander allows for a dedicated person to communicate with other units leaving the driver and the gunner to focus on their tasks. It's armour composition made up of a [Classified] material which grants it double the armour thickness than its predecessor. It's engines allow it to travel at a top speed of 60km/h offroad. It can be carried via Pelican, however, the marine variant of the M850 has been adapted to be dropped from orbit (similar to an ODSTs drop pod). Lessons learned from the Great War have shown that marines often lack the power to secure a hot landing zone in a short amount of time. Hence why the new MBT of the UNSC accommodates that issue._


	5. Chapter 5: Outnumbered

**11th January 2592**

 **UNSC** _ **Bay of Salamis**_ **, Armageddon Class Battlecruiser**

 **0050 GMT, Slipspace en route to New Madrid**

"-and that's more or less all we know about the situation. Any questions?" Athena asked her briefing room full of officers. The _Bay of Salamis_ held a decently sized conference room that could fit 20 people comfortably. Herself and Commander Duellos were the only ones physically present, the rest of the slots were digitally filled up by the other captains of the 21st Battlecruiser Division. 19 other captains commanding the three other battlecruisers, eight destroyers and eight frigates that all formed the division.

"Captain, should we be expecting hostilities?" Athena looked at the hologram asking the question, Captain Adrigal of the battlecruiser _Leyte Gulf_.

"If I am perfectly honest Captain I'm not sure what to expect." She replied plainly. "It could be anything that has caused a communications blackout. The quantum comms buoy was destroyed by a stray meteor, a breakdown occurred, interference from environmental causes, it could be anything."

The holograms around her started talking to each other, muttering their own thoughts.

"However" Athena continued, "I personally think that we should be prepared to expect hostilities. While I hope to whichever god is up there that I'm wrong. We cannot afford to be caught off guard. So to answer your question Captain Adrigal, be prepared for hostilities and pray that I'm wrong."

Satisfied, Adrigal nodded.

"If there are no further questions, we will be entering New Madrid shortly. Dismissed," Athena announced, watching as one by one her subordinates disconnected from the conference call. Once they all left, she stood up and walked out, her XO following close behind. As they began their short walk back to the bridge, silence reigned between them, the only sounds coming from the heels of their boots clicking against the metal floor.

Athena broke the silence first. "So commander, how's the crew?"

Duellos smiled. "The crew is good spirits, they're a little bit bummed about missing the fleet manoeuvres, but they'll get over it. Though I hear that some of the Pelican pilots are really happy, something about not needing to be chaperoned by the Broadsword jocks."

Athena stifled a laugh. The internal rivalry between the Pelican and Broadsword pilots was legendary, though light-hearted, they constantly bickered about which craft was more useful to the fleet. "They can argue all they want, but they argue like an old married couple, they'll be there for each other when a fight starts." She replied. As the bridge door came into view, she suddenly remembered a bit of inter-ship gossip. "By the way, Ensign Moss and Ensign Lee, are they a thing? I thought I saw her go into his quarters before the briefing."

"Ma'am, did you only just realise that? They've been together for nearly two months." Duellos chuckled out loud. "Did you not notice anything they were doing? All the flirting, eye contact, heck have you noticed how when we're on the bridge Moss ALWAYS has to go over to Lee's station to get a 'status report'?"

It all made sense now, every little bit of information that didn't occur to her suddenly made sense. Officially, fraternisation between crew members, especially officers, was discouraged. But to Athena and many other flag officers, they put up with it as long as they didn't let their personal feelings interfere with their duties. She herself followed that rule, but unlike Ensigns Moss and Lee, she knew how to hide her relationships well.

The blast door to the bridge slid open.

"Captain-XO on the bridge." A voice called out.

"Very well Ensign, resume your station," Duellos answered.

Athena walked straight to the front of the bridge where the forward most window was. As she stared at the white of slipspace flying past them, she wondered what other commanders in the Navy were doing right now.

"Ah Captain, welcome back, that meeting was shorter than expected." Greeted Amelia, appearing on a pedestal next to Athena.

Without turning herself, Amelia allowed herself a small smile and continued staring. "I know you were listening into that meeting Amelia. You're always doing it even when I tell you not to."

Returning a smile, Amelia raised a hand to her hip and turned to face the same direction as Athena, flicking her orange hair in the process. "Well, you know how curious I like to be Captain. By the way, we will be exiting slipspace in a few minutes."

"Very well. Put the ship on alert level 2." She ordered as she turned and began walking towards the holotable in the centre of the bridge.

"All hands, we will be exiting slipspace momentarily, standby for orders. The Captain has set alert level 2, all hands stand by for tasking." Amelia announced over the ship-wide tannoy.

Athena looked up again at the forward viewport as the white of slipspace gave way to the black of space but there in the distance was a sphere of green called New Madrid.

Ensign Lee, her sensor officer began calling out from his station. "Sensors calibrating- initial telemetry confirms New Madrid system. All scopes show cle- wait." He paused and stared at his console for a second before shouting. "CONTACTS, I have unknown contacts!"

"Amelia confirm that." Athena instructed as she watched as new dots began to appear on the holotable now set to represent the system of New Madrid.

"Confirmed Captain, counting 400 unknown vessels and rising. Relative distance: one million kilometres from our current position." Came the reply less than a nanosecond after Athena had given the order.

Without addressing anyone in particular, she gave the order. "Go to battlestations!"

Commander Duellos was quick to carry it out. "Battlestations! Raise shields and go active on all weapons. Activate all damage control teams. Enact COLE Protocol. Comms copy orders to the fleet. Seal the bridge!"

Immediately, the bridge was dominated in red light only to be contrasted by the blue light of consoles glowing onto their operator's faces. Retractable hull plating was being lowered to cover the bridge viewports and windows. Klaxons began sounding off in all compartments across the battlecruiser as the crew rushed to their assigned positions.

"All hands man your battlestations, I repeat, man your battlestations. This is not a drill, this is not a drill. Secure all compartments for airtight settings. Damage control teams report to your staging areas and prepare for damage. Marines arm yourselves. I say again, man your battle-stations" Amelia repeated over the tannoys.

"Captain" Ensign Lee called, "I can now confirm that there are 680 unknown vessels in the system. Classifying targets as 8 cruisers, 287 frigates and 385 corvettes. Wait hold that, detecting numerous enemy strike craft emerging from 6 of the cruisers, redesignating those contacts as carriers. I'm also detecting debris around New Madrid, consistent with ships that were in the defence fleet. The quantum communications buoy has also been destroyed. And there is a large unknown structure at the edge of the system, giving off gravitational and electrical readings that are off the scale."

"Amelia, get me a threat assessment on the unknowns," Athena said into thin air as she thought about the crews of the defence fleet. _May the stars and heavens take all your brave souls in. You will not die in vain and humanity will remember your sacrifice._ Then it hit her. _The defence fleet destroyed the quantum buoy, no ships in the defence fleet are equipped with the latest communications technology thus making them dependant on the buoys. And as a new colony, the same applies to the planet, it has no infrastructure to support its own dedicated long range communications. Destroying the buoy had two effects, the first to ensure the enemy does not get a hold of our technology and the second to send FLEETCOM a call for help._

A minute later Amelia gave her assessment. "The structure has not orientated its position since we entered the system, and based off the readings I'm getting, I can give a preliminary assessment that the structure itself is non-aggressive and poses no threat to us currently. However the same cannot be said for the unknown vessels. The entire unknown fleet seems to be forming up on their cruisers and is bearing down on us. They will enter extreme effective weapons range in 20 minutes."

Athena turned her head to the comms officer, "Send hostile challenge and ID. Demand purpose and intentions."

Nodding, the ensign tapped a few buttons on his console before speaking. "Attention unknown vessels, this is the UNSC _Bay of Salamis,_ you are trespassing on sovereign Federation territory and have committed acts of aggression against us. Respond now, or be prepared to be treated as hostiles." He waited for a while before turning back to Athena and shaking his head, indicating that there was no reply.

Athena inwardly cursed to herself. _Damn it. Another alien race that comes in guns blazing. Have they not heard of diplomacy._ She took a few moments and realised that her next action would change the course of the UHF. _We don't want a war, all we ever wanted was to live in peace, to safeguard our own. All we wanted was for humanity to prosper in peace._

She looked up at her crew going about their tasks. She subconsciously muted all the sounds around her and paid attention to the crew, from each crew member to each officer; The life and blood of her ship and the UNSC, each of them would gladly give their lives to preserve the UHF. She felt inspired by them, how each and everyone is determined to carry out their duty. _But if this is how these aliens choose to conduct diplomacy, then so be it. The Covenant learned to its peril that humanity won't simply bow down and die. We will fight these new aliens with every bullet and every man and every ship. We will fight them in every system and every inch of space. We will not stop fighting until they are defeated or we are ash._

She looked at her comms officer, "Very well, use the long-range communicator, send a priority one message to the _Isoruku Yamamoto,_ tagged for the Admiral." Unlike the ships in the defence fleet, as a frontline warship, the _Bay of Salamis_ had its own long-range communication device capable of reaching anywhere in UHF territory. This technology was not new, but it was still expensive, and some eggheads decided that planetary defence fleets didn't need them in order to cut costs.

"Begin message: Arrived at New Madrid, local defence fleet destroyed. Assume planet under siege. Unknown alien force non-responsive to all communications and is showing hostile intent. My intention is to engage the enemy fleet when terms for Rules of Engagement are met and hold out until reinforcements arrive or we are destroyed. Heavily outnumbered. Requesting reinforcements. Captain Athena. End message." The comms officer typing away furiously as Athena dictated the message to him, before reading it once to confirm its contents and sending it off.

"Ensign Moss" Athena called out, turned to her weapons officer at her station. "Set PMAC range to the maximum. Have the Pelicans load up with whatever anti-ship weaponry they can strap to their birds, we'll need it. I'm authorising the use of nuclear weapons, load TYR nuclear missiles in all silos."

"A-aye Captain. Prepping ordinance now." Came the reply, trace of fear written in her voice. She had good reason to, the last time the UNSC had used a nuclear warhead in anger was during the Great War. The fact that their current situation called for use of nuclear weapons spoke volumes of the gravity of the situation, but despite everything, they were still considered to be a weapon of last resort.

Athena analysed the holo-table again, now displaying her with a full 360-degree tactical view of the map. The unknown ships were marked in red, and her own in blue. On the map, a wave of red was closing in very fast on the small UNSC formation. _20 ships against 680, not the best odds if I had to admit._ She laughed sarcastically to herself as she considered her options.

She could flee the system and report back to the admiral, but FLEETCOM and the human population would never forgive her for abandoning a human colony under siege, even against these kinds of odds. It would probably result in a court martial and her being stripped of her command and rank, at best. She could send one ship back, but considering her first option and how outnumbered she was, she needed every single ship here. Her last option seemed like her only realistic option, she could stay and fight. Hopefully, she would somehow be able to hold out for 12 hours, long enough for Admiral Dunheart and the 8th Fleet to arrive.

With no other real choice, she turned to her comms officers. "Put out a general distress call, request all nearby UNSC vessels to come to our aid. Emergency code 0-8-4."

"Aye Captain" Came the reply before the comms officer started putting out the call for help. All UNSC officers were required to memorize the emergency codes and recall them without hesitation. Code 0-8-4 meant a hostile first contact, and the ship who put out the call is requesting for immediate aid.

Returning to the tactical map, Athena watched as the wave of red got closer, they were now only ten minutes out from effective firing range. Without knowing much about her opponent, she tapped a button on the table with patched her into the comms for her division. "All ships, execute formation Alpha 1." Formation Alpha 1, in this case, called for the battlecruisers to close together to form a tight group in the shape of a diamond, with the escorting destroyers and frigates forming a semi-circle around them as screening vessels. It was a standard textbook formation, the most basic one taught at the academy.

"Captain, responses to your 0-8-4. UNSC _Meridian_ and UNSC _Pike_ are on their way, they will be with us in two hours." Her comms officer called out.

"Captain," Amelia shouted out, "detecting energy buildups in the enemy ships - they're opening fire!"

"All hands brace for impact! Incoming enemy fire!" Commander Duellos called out.

Thousands of blue streaks erupted from the enemy fleet, flying towards the UNSC formation at speeds faster than anything Athena had ever seen before. As the first shots hit the hard-light shields of her battlecruiser, the decks shook slightly as the hard-light shields absorbed the impacts. Hundreds upon hundreds of blue streaks impacted the shields causing them to shimmer a dull gold.

As the enemy fire continued, she called out, addressing no one in particular. "Damage report!"

"Shield strength down to 94%. No significant damage detected Captain." Her damage control officer called out. "Similar damage to the battlecruisers _Leyte Gulf, Trafalgar_ and _Guadalcanal._ Our escorts are reporting that their shield strength is down to 90%. Most of the fire was directed at the battlecruisers."

"Enemy weapons confirmed as projectiles, equivalent to the MAC guns used during the Great War. However, their destructive power ranges in the kilotons range. But it appears they make up for the lack of destructive power with a rapid rate of fire and range." Amelia pointed out, lines of code streaming across her orange hologram, signs of her conducting calculations at incredible speeds.

"Captain we've entered weapons range, permission to return fire." Ensign Moss asked, her voice desperate for approval. During peacetime, UNSC protocol enforced strict rules of engagement. The general rule that had been introduced centuries ago still applied today: Fire only when and if fired upon, unless if the safety of the unit in question is under immediate threat. That rule had now been clearly met.

Athena scoffed at the almost pitiful destructive power her enemy possessed, but she forced herself not to become overconfident. History has shown how a commander's overconfidence had been their downfall. Without a second thought or breaking eye contact with the tactical map, she answered the Ensign. "Return fire."

In a glorious display of firepower, the 21st Battlecruiser Division unleashed its arsenal. 28 plasma covered depleted uranium shells spat from the barrels of the PMACs, hurtling towards the enemy fleet at 13,000 kilometres per second. White lances lashed out from the battlecruisers energy projectors. Bursts of orange dotted the space surrounding the UNSC ships, as hundreds of Howler and Rapier missiles were launched from their pods and began streaking towards the enemy. The results were devastating. The energy projectors reached their targets first, cutting through the enemy ships like a hot knife through butter. Each lance of pure destructive energy simply vaporising its target, almost ignoring whatever shields and armour the enemy ships may have had. Even after it had annihilated the first target, each lance carried on, destroying ship after ship in its path. The PMAC's were next, each shot gutted the unfortunate ship from bow to stern, causing them to detonate as their reactors went critical instantly. Some of the PMAC shells were lucky, after going through their first ship, they carried on to a second, then a third before finally lodging itself in a fourth bringing instant destruction to them all. The missiles were the last to reach their targets. Whatever enemy ships that survived the energy projectors and the PMACs unleashed a barrage of point defence fire, shooting down some of the missiles before they could reach their targets. As a testament to UNSC experience using missiles en-masse in an attack, the missiles that did make it through split into a dozen smaller warheads. The cluster munitions proved too much for many of the enemy ships point defence systems, as the missiles impacted the hulls of the enemy ships. Not all were destroyed outright as they proved to have some form of shielding, but after the tenth missile, their shielding failed with each missile impact blasting bits of hull into space before they were destroyed. Some ships tried to manoeuvre their way out of the missile's path, not that it helped them, but the speed at which their ships could move was impressive. In short, the destructive power the aliens had unleashed on the UNSC was almost laughable compared to what the UNSC had given them in return.

 _53 ships destroyed in the opening volley. Not bad._ Athena thought, grabbing the holo table in front of her as the never-ending stream of enemy fire continued. As both sides traded fire, the red dots in the tactical map started to shift. The enemy commander was obviously not incompetent, he or she started spreading out ships with larger intervals between them, this was a setback for the UNSC. There was a lower chance that the PMACs or the energy projectors could get more than one kill per ship. The movement on the tactical map caught her eye, the enemy fleet was rearranging themselves into three prongs, shaped almost like a trident pointing at the very heart of the UNSC formation. They were planning to encircle them, and if they did, it would be a much shorter fight.

Realizing their intended plan, Athena opened her mind to the infinite number of possible yet crazy plans. When she settled on one, she allowed herself a grin-the kind of grin that describes how crazy the plan is but it could just very well work.

"Helm, all ahead flank speed. Set course to 010." She ordered. "Comms, order the Division to assume formation Echo 8 and follow us in."

The helmsman was silent for a moment as he checked the requested bearing. Then suddenly confusion and fear dominated his face. "Captain, that'll take us through the middle of the enemy formation…"

"I am aware Ensign, carry out my orders." She replies sternly. The helmsman nodded and keyed in the necessary commands.

As the _Bay of Salamis_ surged forward, the other battlecruisers took positions on her flanks forming a line. The frigate and destroyer escorts falling in behind the larger capital ships.

"Ensign Moss," Athena called out, "standby to have the deck guns fire at will. Engage CIWS defences - set targeting to manual."

Amelia was about to protest and Captain her decision, as it was normally the ship's AI that handled point defence. As she opened her mouth in protest, Athena beat her to it.

"I have another task in mind for you." Amelia tilted her head, interested. "I want you to penetrate their firewalls, and download every single bit of information you can get. I don't know what their cyber warfare capabilities are like, but I have faith in you. I want you to focus nearly all your systems and subroutines into getting that information."

Understanding her orders, Amelia nodded and winked out.

Athena turned her attention back to the ongoing battle as her division got closer to the enemy. One million kilometres in space was not a long distance, especially with the speeds UNSC ships could reach. Thousands of external cameras mounted of the ships hull allowed her to get a real-time view of what was happening. As the UNSC ships charged, the alien ships continued to fire while moving into their trident like formation. The alien fire was relentless, thousands of shots from their surviving ships were still being poured into the UNSC shields. The UNSC returning the favour with a flurry of missiles and shells.

20,000 kilometres. The UNSC ships continued their full burn towards the enemy, their shields shimmering gold with every hit.

15,000 kilometres. Overwhelming enemy fire claimed one of the destroyers trailing behind the _Leyte Gulf._ Athena watched on the external cams as the ship exploded into large chunks of metal.

Explosions rocked the deck of her bridge. Athena adjusted herself once again, almost as if moving in sync with the vibrations as she listened to the orchestra of voices of her bridge.

"PMAC firing solution acquired. Firing." Despite being almost eight decks lower, a muffled thump was heard. "PMAC system recharging, 60 seconds till next shot. Energy projectors are overheating, commencing heat dump."

"Enemy fire intensifying. Shields down to 40%"

"Damage control teams, electrical fire, frame 71, deck 27. Suppress and eliminate."

"Captain, battlecruiser _Trafalgar_ is reporting heavy damage to their shields."

"Releasing missile safeties on pods E1 through E5."

"Captain, now less than 3,000 kilometres away from the closest enemy ship."

Athena walked over to her helmsman, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Steady as she goes, Ensign." She could feel the discipline in him suppressing the fear that would have come out by now if he hadn't been trained well.

 _Just a little bit closer._ 1,000 kilometres. _A bit more._ By now she could clearly see the alien ships via the external cameras. Analyzing them they looked sleek, threatening, professional, but vulnerable and fragile.

Athena watched as the enemy stopped forming their 'trident', as if stunned by the sheer audacity of the UNSC charge. Each ship instead oriented themselves to fire at the leading UNSC ships.

900 kilometres. Commander Duellos had been confused with his captain's decision the entire time. But only now, did his face light up with joy. He understood the plan.

500 kilometres. _Close enough_ , Athena thought to herself. "Comms, instruct all ships to prepare to fire emergency bow thrusters and reduce go one-third speed on my mark.." She commanded, looking down at her helmsman, "you as well Ensign, stand by."

450 kilometres.

"3, 2, 1. MARK." Just as the last word left her mouth, a mixture of trihydride tetrazine and hydrogen peroxide stored in tanks mounted on the bow of the ship detonated, the mixture producing an explosive force on the bow of the _Bay of Salamis,_ a force opposite to the thrust from the engines _._ Athena and most of the bridge crew was thrown onto the floor as the sudden and drastic change of momentum caused the ship the slow down.

As Athena picked herself off the metal floor, she shouted out to her weapons officer. "Ensign Moss! Batteries release on all missiles. Deck guns fire at will."

She watched as the Ensign's hands were a blur, typing in commands and firing solutions faster than anything Athena had seen before. Seconds later, hundreds of Howler and Rapier missiles left their tubes. The 'mini-MAC' deck guns on the UNSC fleet fired their slugs at will. It was literally a case of target, sight, fire, adjust, reload, repeat. Like all the other UNSC weapons, the 'mini-MAC' deck guns were just as effective against the alien ships. The first shot disabled whatever shielding they had, the second disabled it, the third killed it. The frequency of shots coming from the 'mini-MAC' guns meant that an enemy ship was destroyed every five seconds. It was exactly what she had planned on, it was no longer worth it to use the PMACs to destroy it only for it to have to suffer a much longer recharge compared to the 'min-MACs'. The void between the two fleets was filled with a multitude of colours. Between the blue, white, purple and orange, it was almost beautiful, yet ironic considering the circumstances.

The charge seemed to break their formation just before they had finished forming it. The alien ships started moving without organization as if they were panicking. It was at this moment, their fighters which had been hanging back with their carriers, charged. Approaching the _Bay of Salamis_ alone was over 200 fighter craft. Like a swarm of angry bees, they angrily charged towards the UNSC formation.

"Engaging CIWS defences," Ensign Moss called out. Thousands of high-frequency pulse lasers stabbed out from the _Bay of Salamis_. Even on manual control, the UNSC gunners were very accurate, turning every fighter into a glowing fireball with deadly efficiency. Years and years of combat simulations and wargames proving their worth. Ducking and weaving their way through the point defence fire, tens out of hundreds of fighters managed to get through the thick flak, and then they each launched a pair of missiles at point blank range. As soon as they released their payload, they banked off and tried to return to their carriers, but they were cut to pieces by the UNSC defences.

The moment the first missile hit, Athena knew they were in trouble. She was thrown off her feet again, hitting her forehead on the holotable in the process. Showers of sparks rained down from the ceiling, dancing off any surface they touched. Athena managed to bring herself up again, swivelling her head searching for her XO. As she searched, she felt a trickle of blood start to roll down from a cut on her forehead.

"Damage report! What the hell just hit us!" She shouted out, hoping that her XO would have heard her.

Duellos made eye contact with her, confusion written all over his face. "Hull breaches on Decks 10, 12 and 15. Damage control teams are sealing them off now. Engineering is reporting a loss of power to the energy projectors, and engines three through five are shutting down. Captain, I don't understand. Our shields are still up, but those missiles seem to be able to penetrate our shields!"

Athena was petrified. If they had weapons that could penetrate their shielding, the odds just shifted drastically against them. And she was the one who brought them to their deaths by ordering the charge to get close to use their 'mini-MACS' effectively. Then it hit her, _Oh my God. What about the rest of the ships._

She called her comms officer and get a damage report on the division. Her worst fears were realised as the results only got worse and worse.

"Frigate _New Amsterdam_ : lost with hands. Battlecruiser _Trafalgar_ : lost all propulsion and is venting atmosphere. Battlecruiser _Guadalcanal_ : my god her bridge is gone, multiple hull breaches…"

As the comms officer finished the damage control report, Athena realised that she had 13 combat capable ships left, including her own. More than a quarter of her division, mainly her destroyers and frigates, had been crippled or destroyed in that missile attack. Of the original four battlecruisers in her division, only the _Bay of Salamis_ and the _Leyte Gulf_ were still combat operational, the _Guadalcanal_ was still operational, but she was so damaged that she effectively crippled. She needed to save what was left of her ships, she studied the holo-map intensely for a solution.

"Captain, incoming transmission from the _Trafalgar_." Her comms officer reported. A quick nod prompted the officer to accept the transmission.

A small figure appeared on the holo-table, a man in his 40s with heavy Eastern European features. "Captain Athena. I regret to inform you that my ship is out of action. We've lost all contact with engineering at the rear of the ship, but I can confirm that all propulsion systems have been destroyed. Main power is fluctuating."

Athena stared back, regret and sorrow written into her face. "Captain Moskva, I am so sorry for our current situation, I thought that if we could close the distance, our secondary weapons could have evened the odds. I-"

"Captain," He interrupted, "I understand why you did it. I would have done the same, but neither of us could have anticipated that they would have weapons that could penetrate our shields or a suicidal fighter charge. I know the battle isn't won yet, but I dare say that 6 ships in exchange for 274 is not such a bad trade wouldn't you say? Anyways Captain, I assume that by now you're looking for a way to escape yes?"

"Yes, I have a plan in mind, we conduct an in-system slipspace jump to behind the fifth planet in the system. There we will regroup, and conduct guerilla warfare until the 8th Fleet arrives." She responded, confident that this plan was the most sound option. The bridge shuddered once again as more enemy fire continued to hit her shields.

"An excellent plan Captain." Athena was just about to reply, but she never got the chance as her colleague continued. "But there is a problem. Even if you do jump the enemy will follow you and judging by how fast we've seen their ships manoeuvre, they'll be on you in a matter of minutes, an hour at the most. Unless if there is someone remains behind."

"Captain Moskva, I cannot ask you to do this, I need every ship I can get to win this." She cried out, realising what he was suggesting.

"Our slipspace drive is offline and non-operational. We've only just now been able to reroute auxiliary power to the weapons. Let's not even talk about our engines. Captain, we aren't going anywhere." He stood a little straighter, brushing his hair to a side. "Captain, I hereby formally request that you allow the _Trafalgar_ and her crew to remain behind to fight a rearguard while you and the other ships regroup."

Athena was faced with a decision that she knew she had to make soon. If she refused his order and kept her ships together, the enemy would swarm them with their superior numbers and the battle would be lost. If she left him behind, it would deprive her of one of the more powerful ships under her command, but it would allow the survivors to escape and regroup. She would also condemn over 2000 men to their deaths. Whether she liked it or not, the decision was obvious.

"Very well Captain, request granted." She hesitantly said.

There was no immediate reply from Captain Moskva, simply a smile grew on his face, and he raised his hand to his forehead in salute. "It has been an honour serving with you ma'am. Do not let our deaths be in vain, give them hell. Moskva out." With that the transmission cut.

Pausing for a moment to accept what she had just done, Athena shut her eyes and said a quick silent prayer to those brave servicemen and women. When she opened them, there was a renewed determination and fire in her eyes.

"Commander Duellos." She called out, he instantly looked up from the damage control console and looked back at her. "We're disengaging, inform the division that we are conducting an in-system jump to the fifth planet, we will regroup there. Commence jump as soon as possible."

"Aye Captain, helm set coordinates. Comms send out the message." He ordered before turning back to Athena. "What about the _Trafalgar_?"

Athena shut her eyes once more, "She...she's staying behind. She will cover our withdrawal." He understood, shutting his eyes in early remembrance.

"Commencing emergency jump, all hands brace." The helmsman cut in. Outside, a brilliant blinding white portal opened, and the _Bay of Salamis_ lurched into it. The other surviving ships of the division that could make it did the same. A few seconds later, they disengaged the slipspace stream and dropped out, right behind the fifth planet. A large gas giant, it's size would give them temporary respite as the surviving ships conducted emergency repairs and reformed.

The scene on the bridge was organized chaos. Sparks continued to shower down from the ceiling. Lights started to flicker. Small electrical fires erupted from consoles. Athena switched the tactical map to a damage control status of her ship. She cringed when she saw the result. Large sections of the ships hull were glowing red, indicating heavy damage. Half the deck guns were out of action. There was a sizeable chunk of the hull missing just beneath the main ion engines. Engines 3 and 5 were offline, and engine 4 was sputtering, struggling to stay alive. The power relays to the PMAC guns were destroyed, but the damage report indicated that power will be restored momentarily. Shields were down to 20% but slowly charging. As Commander Duellos oversaw the immediate repairs, she switched the display back to the tactical map. She needed to see the status of the _Trafalgar_. Bouncing telemetry off a nearby destroyer that had line of sight, she witnessed the last stand of the battlecruiser.

The _Trafalgar_ was being surrounded on all sides, countless enemy shots pouring into her. With a flicker of gold, her shields gave way and failed. Shot after shot continued to hit the hull, atmosphere venting with each breach. Hull plating was being blown off quicker than she could actually account for. Enemy corvettes circling her like sharks drawn to blood, firing relentlessly. Despite not being able to move, Captain Moskva was fighting back. The few deck guns that were operational were shooting back, but it was only a matter of time before they were destroyed. The energy projectors lashed out, bisecting any unfortunate ship caught by the lance of pure energy. Howler and Rapier missiles continued to spew out of the stricken battlecruiser. Yet despite the bravery of Captain Moskva, the enemy ships continued to fire, launching more missiles at the battlecruiser. The _Trafalgar_ was being pounded from every possible angle, rounds blowing off hull plating and missiles destroying portions of the ship. Within 10 minutes, she was truly disabled. Her weapons were silent, even her running lights were off. Precious atmosphere leaking from the numerous hull breaches across the once mighty vessel. The enemy's intentions became clear when they ceased firing and started launching what looked like shuttles. They were going to take the ship. If they succeed, it would be a breach of UNSC security, they would be able to reverse engineer all the tech on the ship. As hundreds of shuttles and a group of corvettes and frigates closed in, a blinding flash of white erupted from the _Trafalgar's_ epicentre. It instantly engulfed everything around it within a 500-kilometre radius. In a brilliant last act of defiance, Captain Moskva detonated _Trafalgar's_ entire nuclear arsenal. 24 TYR nuclear missiles, each with an equivalent destructive yield of 90 megatons worth of TNT. Nothing survived that, but in his final moments, Captain Moskva took hundreds of shuttles along with over 40 ships with him.

Athena took a quick moment to say a quick word for the fallen soldiers of the UNSC. As she began to recite the unofficial beginning to a navy eulogy, every soul on the bridge stopped what they were doing, turned to face the last bearing of the _Trafalgar,_ and snapped a salute off to them - a final sign of respect for those who died. "May the stars take you in. And may you be welcomed into the heavens and walk amongst your ancestors _._ " As the final words left her mouth, the salutes dropped, and everything resumed.

The tactical map was a grim display, the enemy fleet still consisted of 290 ships. They still had most of their cruisers and carriers, but the rest of their fleet was severely depleted. The map showed their fleet reforming around their capital ships. Athena grimaced as her 12 surviving ships clustered tightly together.

 _12 against 290, definitely not the best odds._ Athena thought to herself. _It will be a miracle if we pull through this. Retreat is not an option. For all those who have died, we will not retreat and let them die in vain._

Sighing to herself, she went back to concentrate on the upcoming battle ahead. She managed to blur out the surrounding chaos, focusing all of her attention on working on a plan.

* * *

 **UNSC Space Station** _ **Bastion**_

 **0130 GMT, Deep Space**

A trio walked with all possible speed without breaking decorum, through the crowded corridors of the vast space station. Footsteps in perfect sync as their boots clicked against the metal floors. They overtook countless people, even pushing past the occasional officer chatting with their colleagues. The middle figure clutching onto a data pad, while the other two held assault rifles.

Captain Hyo-Soon Park, flanked by two marine guards, had never walked with such purpose in his life before. He had received the message barely 5 minutes ago, and what he read caused him to drop everything and report to his superiors. Normally, he would simply forward the communique, but given the severity of it, he had to report this in person. The only problem was his immediate superior, Admiral Dare - head of ONI, was in a high-level meeting on the other side of the station.

Hyo-Soon had to utilize the teleportation system that the station had. It had brought him nine-tenths of the way to his destination. And now he was walking as fast as his feet would allow. He turned a corridor and came face to face with a marine guard. The guard recognized him and keyed open the door, shouldering his rifle in salute. Hyo-Soon returned a quick salute without breaking stride, he could feel a drop of sweat rolling down the side of his head. As he walked through, he came up to a Lieutenant sitting behind a desk next to a barrier, with a pair of Spartan V's flanking him.

"Which room are they in?" He asked, raising his identification for the Lieutenant to inspect.

The young Lieutenant, stared at his ID, eyes widening as he recognized the name. "Captain Park sir, they gave orders that they are not to be disturbed." He nervously swallowed, it was clear that he didn't usually interact with higher-ups other than granting them access, or perhaps it was the matte black uniform Hyo-Soon was wearing.

"Lieutenant, I don't have time for this. I have to report to Admiral Dare." Hyo-Soon said impatiently, "Now." Placing the necessary amount of emphasis on the last word to get the message across. In the corner of his eye, he noticed how the Spartans tightened their grips ever so slightly on their weapons.

The Lieutenant swallowed, clearly he had never experienced this before. "Room 16 Captain. Head down the corridor, take the elevator to the floor -10. It'll be right in front of you."

"Thank you" He replied, he turned his gaze over to the marine guards who had followed him, "wait here."

They nodded and he proceeded through the barrier which the Lieutenant opened for him. He walked down the corridor towards the elevator. Another pair of Spartan V's stood guard outside the entrance, they saluted Hyo-Soon as he walked past them into the elevator. He didn't return the salutes, he didn't have the time. He triggered the voice-activated elevator, and it sped him down 10 floors beneath the surface. What was only supposed to be a few seconds seemed like an eternity. As the lift doors slid open, it revealed a single corridor with a door at the end, with 5 Spartan V pairs standing between him and it. He stepped out the elevator and walked down the corridor. With each Spartan pair he passed, other than saluting him, they didn't flinch a bit. It was still hard to believe that these incredible soldiers were human and not robot.

As he reached the final pair of Spartan guards, the one to his left stopped him by moving to the front of the door. "Captain Park sir, they gave orders that they were not be disturbed."

"Petty Officer, I hold information vital to the security of the UHF. Admiral Dare needs to see this, if she doesn't you can be damn well sure I will do everything in my power to make sure you regret your decision." Raising the datapad he had been holding onto a lot tighter than he realised. "Your choice soldier."

The Spartan stared at him through the gold plated visor, before turning. He knocked on the door before entering. It was a minute later when the Spartan came back out and looked at Hyo-Soon, "You may enter Captain."

Nodding in thanks, he stepped through the door, and witnessed some of the most powerful figures in the UNSC and the UHF sitting around a circular table, both in person and live holographic versions. He instantly recognized Admiral Dare, Admiral Cutter, Fleet Admiral Lasky, Admiral Hackett, Lord Hood and President Nakamura - Leader of the UHF.

As he walked over to Admiral Dare, he quickly recognized a holographic planet that was hovering over the centre of the table. It was the Forerunner world known as Reqium, discovered only a few months ago and instantly deemed highly classified. Hyo-Soon didn't know much, but he did know that the Forerunner being known as the Diadact, had been successfully contained there.

The moment he had entered, Admiral Dare noticed him immediately, despite his black uniform blending in perfectly with the walls of the room. But the other figures in the room pretended he wasn't there and paid no particular attention to him.

Hyo-Soon leaned down slightly and whispered into Dare's ear. "Admiral, we have a 0-8-4 in New Madrid." Passing over the datapad for her to examine. Her eyes widened as she analysed its contents, scrolling through the report absorbing every single detail.

After finishing, she stood up causing Fleet Admiral Lasky to pause mid-sentence as he looked to her for a reason for the interruption. "Admiral Lasky, I apologize for interrupting, but something has come up." As Lasky sat down, she continued. "Madame President, fellow Admirals, we have a 0-8-4." She pressed a few buttons and the hologram of Requiem switched to a holographic version of New Madrid and began her briefing.

 _Office of Naval Intelligence_

 _Clearance: Level 4 (Rear Admiral and higher)_

 _Department: ONI Section 1_

 _Subject: Copy of Lord Hood's deployment orders to the fleet in reaction to the New Madrid 0-8-4._

 _Date Published: 11th January 2592_

 _[URGENT PRIORITY ONE COMMUNIQUE: CODE ALPHA BLACK]_

 _To all Fleet Commanders,_

 _A 0-8-4 has been declared in the system of New Madrid. Preliminary reports indicate that the defence fleet has been destroyed, and the planet under siege._

 _Elements of the 8th Fleet have engaged an unknown alien force, but are heavily outnumbered require reinforcements. As such, with the blessing of President Nakamura, the alert level has been raised to Level 2. All Fleet Commanders are hereby ordered to consolidate their fleets be ready for tasking. All personnel on leave are to be recalled immediately._

 _The 8th, 14th, and 16th Fleets are hereby ordered to proceed to New Madrid at all possible speed._

 _Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Admiral Terrence Hood_

* * *

 **For those of you wondering why the UNSC never employed their nuclear arsenal, here is the reason. In this AU, post-war UNSC decided that nukes were last resort weapons because of their destructive potential. Given that most ships in the fleet are armed with more effective MAC guns and energy projectors, the use of nukes as a primary weapon was no longer necessary.**

 **As promised, I delivered you a space battle that hopefully gives the impression that while the Citadel Races are hopelessly outgunned, the UNSC aren't gods and can be hurt. For the crazy 'banzai' charge that Athena did, I'll address that in the next chapter or so.**

 **Also just so that no one panics, let me assure you that this is not the last battle between the UNSC and the Citadel. That's all I'll say. But brace yourself for some nostalgia in the next chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6: Irony

**HELLO! The Chapter was nearly done when I announced the changes for the story, so all there was to do was tweak it a little bit. The previous chapters have been updated to reflect the SINGLE humanity. Anyways, enjoy the new Chapter. :)**

* * *

 **PFS** _ **PALAVEN,**_ **Turian Hierarchy Dreadnought**

 **System of New Madrid**

Alnius was not having a good day. He had taken horrific losses, he had 290 ships left from his original 800. If nothing that had transpired before warranted a court-martial offence, losing this many ships at cost of only 8 of the enemy's definitely warranted one. The goal of destroying these aliens for the Turian Hierarchy was proving to be more difficult than anticipated. Despite what had happened, his current objective was clear: destroy the enemy fleet and secure their technology for the Hierarchy, one way or the other. He twitched at the thought of 42 of his ships being consumed by that monstrously of a nuclear fireball.

 _Barbarians. What kind of civilization uses nuclear weapons._ He thought to himself. _But the weapons on their ships are powerful, if we can reverse engineer it, the power balance back home will shift greatly in our favour. We will destroy their fleet, take their technology and ensure Turian dominance for centuries to come. General Vitallios should be wrapping up on the planet any day now. All that's left is to destroy their ships._

"Sensors, confirm the position of the enemy ships." He asked.

"I can confirm that they are hiding behind the gas giant Admiral. From our estimates, they should have seven ships left, including three of their super-dreadnoughts but all have suffered damage. Other than that sir, I have nothing else to report." Alnius detected the slightest trace of sorrow in her voice. He could understand, they had lost a lot of good men today. Over 8,000 Turians were dead, lost to the vacuum of space. He had tasked a dozen frigates with recovering as many bodies as could be found and taken back to Palaven for burial.

But for now, he had the battle to win. He had organized the remnants of his fleet in a formation reminiscent of an arrowhead. The surviving cruisers took point at the tip of the arrow, with the frigates forming on the flanks. The surviving two dreadnoughts and five carriers were formed in the centre. The entire fleet was now moving dead slow, giving the crews some time to conduct emergency repairs. They had oriented themselves towards the fifth planet, and they were slowly making their way there. At their current speed, they would reach them in just under an hour.

As Alnius watched his crew carry out their tasks. He thought back to the recent engagement. _Super-Dreadnoughts that are at least a full kilometre longer than the previous dreadnoughts we engaged. And the weapons they used were more effective. Those lances of energy, completely ignore our kinetic barriers. Our mass accelerator rounds were next to useless, thank the spirits for our disruptor torpedoes. They seemed to be the only thing that could hurt them._

He knew he still had a range and rate of fire advantage, but the sheer destructive firepower that he was facing was simply unbelievable. They had firepower which made the main gun on the _Destiny Ascension_ look like a peashooter. And their version of FTL was, strange to say the least, the Salarians would love to get their hands on this stuff. Sighing to himself, he rubbed his eyes and looked to the tactical display hovering in front of him. It was now time to end this.

"Patch me into the fleet," He ordered, "All ships, we have lost many comrades today, but they will forever be remembered! When we take this planet, we will take their technology and use it to advance Turian standing in the galaxy. We will surpass the Batarians, the Asari, the Salarians and everyone else who thinks they have an edge over us. They think that they are above us. Well, they are wrong. We will show them today that despite our losses, we will be triumphant. All ships, all ahead full! Keep pace with the flagship."

The ships of the Turian 12th fleet surged forward, their engines glowing a bold blue. Another advantage his ships seemed to have over these humans was speed, and that was something he intended to exploit. Though he had to admit, the alien commander was good, especially when he or she lead that charge which broke his earlier formation and sent his troops into panic. It would be the last time he had that mistake, he wouldn't underestimate their commander again.

At the new speeds they were travelling at, they would be in firing range in just 20 minutes. As they closed in, sensors showed the human fleet coming out from behind the gas giant. Their ships arranged in a small cone, with their super-dreadnoughts in the centre with their escorts on the outside. Alnius wondered if this was a blunder by the human commander, he or she had left his escorts on the fringes to be picked off. He also noted that one of the super-dreadnoughts was heavily damaged, sporting clear hull breaches all along her side. Soon enough, they were within firing range.

"All ships, maintain speed and commence firing." He ordered.

The Turian ships began firing their mass accelerators. Hundreds of shells leaving their barrels and crossing the empty void. Alnius watched as they impacted on the shields on the human ships. With a constant barrage, they would be brought down soon enough. But things weren't moving fast enough, he needed to take out their super-dreadnoughts before they could inflict even more damage on his ships. He tapped a button next to him, opening a comm line to one of his commanders.

"Frigate Squadron 32, conduct an in-system FTL jump to behind their lines and conduct torpedo runs on their super-dreadnoughts. Following the successful completion of your attack run, break off and harass them at a distance."

A single acknowledgement came over the comms before 12 frigates broke off and winked out of existence. It would be a full minute before they winked back into existence behind the human fleet. As soon as they decanted from their jump, they launched hundreds of disruptor torpedoes at one of the super-dreadnoughts. But it appeared that she was ready for them. The point defence system erupted into life, shooting down many torpedoes, but some got through. They blew hull plating as they ignored the human energy shields, sending hull fragments into space. As the frigates tried to break off and make a run for it, they were caught in an overlapping field of fire from the other super-dreadnoughts weapons. They're mass accelerator rounds cutting through their kinetic barriers as if they weren't there in the first place. Of the 12 frigates that were sent there, only one made it out.

"Admiral, we've entered their firing range." Alnius braced himself for the inevitable bloodbath that was to come. His fears were soon realised as white lances shot out from their super-dreadnoughts, cleaving his ships in half if they were lucky enough to survive being annihilated altogether. He was about to order his fighters to charge in once again, but he didn't get the chance to as their 'mass accelerators' gutted his carriers from bow to stern. Many of his fighters had been on board rearming, and just like that, they were all dead. This battle was in its final stages, Alnius didn't know what the outcome was, but he knew the end was near.

* * *

 **UNSC** _ **Bay of Salamis**_ **, Armageddon Class Battlecruiser**

 **0230 GMT, System of New Madrid**

The decks shuddered under the impacts of those infernal missiles that the aliens used. A group of their corvettes had jumped behind their formation and launched them at the rear of the _Bay of Salamis_. The CIWS system managed to shoot down most of them, but two managed to get through and hit them along the side of the hull.

Athena watched as Commander Duellos, who was just about managing to keep his balance, strode over to Ensign Moss at her weapons console and directed her to take out the corvettes. The deck guns from the _Bay of Salamis_ and the _Leyte Gulf_ took out all but one of the corvettes, which was now making its getaway.

"Captain we've entered firing range." Ensign Moss called out.

Athena nodded. "Fire energy projectors at their carriers, I won't risk another fighter attack from them again. Take them out first. Fire PMACs at any target. Get me firing solutions for pods G1 through I5. Launch them in sync with the TYR nuclear missiles. Set for remote detonation. Target their escort ships."

"Missiles armed and ready Captain."

For the first time during the battle, Athena sat in her captain's chair. She gripped the armrests so tightly, her nails dug into the leather. "Fire."

A second later, eight nuclear silo doors on the top of the _Bay of Salamis_ opened, and eight of the most destructive in UNSC history launched from them. As they shot up vertically before orientating themselves towards the alien fleet, hundreds of smaller Howler and Rapier missiles were launched, almost flying escort for their larger TYR cousins. As they crossed the space between them, the missiles surged through the vacuum, the odd missile here and there being hit by a stray mass accelerator round. It was a full five minutes before she saw the results. The enemy point defences attempted to shoot down as many of the missiles as they could, but with the masses of Howler and Rapier missiles, their chances of shooting down all the missiles were slim. The Howler and Rapier missiles did the expected amount of damage, but the TYR nuclear missiles were a different story. Each one exploded in the centre of a different formation, instantly vaporising their victims. Even from this distance, the light they gave us was blinding. 120 ships were claimed by the ever so reliable go-to last resort weapon of the UNSC.

Hoping to capitalise on the success, Athena ordered the remaining ships to fire their nuclear missiles at the enemy. The reply she got, was not what she expected.

"Captain, Captain Adrigal of the _Leyte Gulf_ regrets to inform you that their nuclear silo doors are jammed, they cannot launch. Same with the _Guadalcanal._ " Her comms officer called out. Inwardly cursing to herself, she watched the display from her chair as the escorting destroyers and frigates launched their nuclear ordinance, employing the same tactic of overwhelming the alien point defence systems. Seven more suns appeared a few minutes later, though they claimed fewer ships. The aliens were starting to spread their ships even further out to minimise the effects of area damage.

The enemy fire mass accelerator fire continued to rain down onto the UNSC ships. A destroyer, whose shields were already down, capitulated to the storm, her engines sputtering before they went dark. A frigate on Athena's left flank was also destroyed when her reactor went critical, consuming the 540m ship in a fireball. Her wreckage lazily drifting in space.

Athena released a sigh of defeat. With her remaining 10 ships, all of which were heavily damaged, there was no possible way she could win this battle. The colony would be lost, and the UNSC would be at war again. She honestly hoped that she would survive this battle, and continue to serve the fleet for which she had served. That outcome was no longer looking likely. As the shields on her battlecruiser failed, round after round impacted on the hull. Each shot sending vibrations and shockwaves through the entire structure of the ship. More showers of sparks fell from the ceiling, as well as some support beams. Rubber piping hung limply from the ceilings and walls, shaken well clear of their housings. Steam and coolant burst from valves hidden in the bulkheads. The marine guards were desperately trying to put out a fire with their fire extinguishers. She had stopped listening to the damage control reports long ago, there were too many to keep track off. Despite having no shields, UNSC ships could take a tremendous amount of punishment with their new armour; Almost three to four times the amount that they could handle during the Great War. But it didn't change the fact that they were going to be destroyed, sooner or later. A shell hit the bridge armour plating, causing massive shockwaves that caused those standing to fall. Athena prepared herself to make her final stand and to meet her death.

"Captain. I'm getting a transmission. You need to hear this." Her comms operator shouted out, blood trickling down from a cut on his cheek. His voice laced with traces of relief and gratefulness. Athena stood from up from her chair and walked over. If she was going to die today, she would die standing on her own two feet. She took the headset from him and placed it against her ears. As she listened to the transmission, she felt something inside her, the feeling of hope and relief. Never before had she been happier to hear that voice, those words of hope. She gestured to the comms officer to play the transmission fleetwide. In every room, corridor, manned-turret and storage space across what remained of the 21st Battlecruiser Division, the transmission was played.

"Hail Humans. We have come to your aid, let us purge those who would defy humanity. Disengage your ships, we will deal with these scum."

Behind the alien formation, a slipspace portal opened, followed by another, and another. Portals were opening faster than Athena could count them. A bulbous bow came through the first, sporting a 'hook' that curved inwards. Another sleek bulbous bow came through the second one, with fin-like blades protruding from the bottom, this one much smaller than the first one.

Just like how they had come in humanity's darkest hour almost 40 years ago, they were now here. Despite what some may have argued, they had saved humanity from the Covenant, the Flood and extinction. They had found the _Spirit of Fire_. And despite the animosity still held towards them by some members of the human race, they showed no signs of anger, only regret and understanding. By now the first ship had completed its exit from slipspace. 40 plus years ago, this ship would have struck fear into the hearts of UNSC servicemen, the destructive potential that it could unleash still scarred many human worlds. It's 5,347m long structure burned into the memory of every officer, past and present. Yet now, it lit the fires of hope within Athena, this would be their saving grace. Across the UNSC division, cheers were heard from the deepest bowels of the engine room all the way to the bridge. Hugs were being exchanged and hands were being shaken, a brilliant antonym to the pitched space battle happening just outside the bulkheads. Everyone recognised the deep tone of those voices, who still spoke in a rather dramatic manner. As 323 more ships decanted with majestic grace from slipspace, they accelerated towards the alien fleet, engines angrily glowing a fierce blue-purple. Their bulbous curved aesthetics unique to only one faction.

The Union, and by default the Sangheili, had arrived.

On an open channel, a voice boomed across every ship in the system. "This is Imperial Fleetmaster Rtas Vadum aboard the Union Assault Carrier _Shadow of Intent_ commanding the Fleet of _Eternal Repentance._ You have engaged our human allies in an act of war, and for that, you will burn."

* * *

 **UV** _ **Shadow of Intent,**_ **CAS Class Assault Carrier**

 **New Madrid**

For years upon years since the end of the Great War, Rtas had dreamt about finding an enemy in such a compromising position. The Jiralhanae in the years following the Great War didn't provide much of a challenge, they were impatient and unsophisticated beings. They had simply charged in and allowed his fellow shipmasters to out-fight them, the Jiralhanae had the brute strength in numbers, but it didn't matter, they were eventually hunted down and contained to their homeworld of Doisac. The Union high council decided to reduce the Jiralhanae population to a more...manageable size, which would explain why about half of Doisac was now a glassed wasteland.

But now Rtas turned his attention back to the engagement. His fleet was in a position that was any Commanders dream, behind a distracted enemy.

"All ships reporting in Fleetmaster, awaiting your orders." The comms officer called out.

Rtas ran his hand over the display, highlight the enemy ships on the map, "All ships, fire at will at highlighted targets. End them."

The sides of the Union ships started to glow, plasma lines warming up. When they reached a sufficient charge, they unleashed a torrent of plasma torpedoes. Purple like spheres of destruction sped towards the alien ships. Before the could reach their intended targets, every CCS-class battlecruiser and CAS class assault carrier unleashed their energy projectors. Like their UNSC counterparts, the Union energy projectors annihilated their targets, leaving nothing but space dust in its place. The plasma torpedoes streaked in next, some ships tried to manoeuvre to avoid them, only to find out that the plasma torpedoes could track them. As the superheated plasma detonated against the outer hull, it melted through their armour with ease. Entire sections of hull were melted away from each impact.

Rtas was disappointed, while he knew that he had a better position compared to his enemy, they weren't putting up as much of a fight as he had hoped. He thought to himself. _Their ships are so...fragile. Two hits from our torpedoes are enough to destroy them. Even the UNSC ships at the beginning of the Great War proved to be a greater challenge than these._

The Union ships were ripping into the alien fleet, within a matter of minutes most of their ships were reduced to burning hulks. Their flagship and a few others had been lucky enough to avoid destruction and were now making a run for it.

"Fleetmaster," the Unggoy at the sensor station called out to Rtas. "The surviving enemy ships are running. Their vector puts them on a course for the unknown structure at the edge of them system. These ships are moving fast Fleetmaster, we won't be able to catch 12 of them if they continue at their current speeds."

Rtas slammed the armrest, refusing to let his enemy get away. "All ahead full, divert power from the shields to the forward energy projectors. I want them recharged. NOW." The _Shadow of Intent_ surged forward, firing its forward energy projector. It caught the enemy flagship straight in its centre of mass, and it ceased to exist.

Mildly satisfied, he watched as the 14 surviving enemy ships approached the unknown structure, and winked off the map. Perplexed, he turned to the Unggoy at the sensor station.

"Sensors, what did I just see?" He asked

"Fleetmaster I have no definite answer for you. Sensors detected a major increase to their speed just before they disappeared. My conclusion is that they interfaced with the structure which allowed them to jump at speeds much faster than we could achieve, even at slipspace."

 _Speeds faster than slipspace?_ Now that was interesting. Rtas had always thought that slipspace was the fastest mode of travel. Evidently, he was wrong.

"Fleetmaster, incoming transmission from the UNSC _Bay of Salamis._ A Captain Athena Greyson wishes to speak with you." The comms officer called out.

He nodded to the Sangheili manning the station. Soon the hologram of a human female wearing the standard grey uniform of a Captain appeared. Shoulder pad on one side, emblazoned with the UNSC eagle. There was a cut on her forehead, evident from the dried blood that had run down her face.

"Imperial Fleetmaster Vadum, first of all, on the behalf of the UNSC thank you for your timely arrival. Had you arrived later, I fear that we would have been destroyed. My crew and I owe you our lives." She said calmly, though Rtas could hear muffled shouting in the background.

"Captain such debt is unnecessary, in fact, my people owe you a debt. A debt for the sins we committed many years ago during the war. We were on our way the fleet manoeuvres when we received your distress signal. We chose not to reply out of fear the enemy may have intercepted our communications. Do you require any aid Captain?" He asked.

Captain Greyson placed her hands behind her back, "No aid is necessary Fleetmaster. I received a transmission from Admiral Dunheart not too long ago, the 8th fleet is inbound. However, I do have a favour to ask." She pulled up a display of the planet of New Madrid and zoomed in on Archam, the largest population centre on the planet. "We've just managed to establish communications with the planet, and they report that the city is under siege and they require immediate aid. What's left of my battlegroup does not have a sufficient enough ground complement to provide a relief force - "

"But we do." Rtas said, finishing her sentence. "Very well Captain, we will descend into the atmosphere and begin deploying our troops."

"Thank you Fleetmaster, I am sending you all the intelligence reports the garrison on the planet has forwarded to me." She looked offscreen for a bit and mouthed a few words. Rtas turned to his communications officer, who nodded upon receipt of the reports. "By your leave Fleetmaster, I need to attend my ship."

"Go Captain. Should you require any aid, I will see what I can do." He replied.

Greyson saluted, and her hologram vanished.

Rtas turned back to the tactical display, clasping his hands behind his back. "Helm," He ordered, "take us into geosynchronous orbit above the outskirts of Archam. Have all other ships do the same." At the corner of his eye, he noted a figure entering the bridge, blue and purple armour almost blending in with the ambient lighting.

Rtas turned himself slightly, hands still clasped behind his back. "Field Marshal 'Relkam, we are honoured that you decided to grace our with your presence.", Rtas jokingly mocking him.

The middle-aged Sangheili allowed himself a short chuckle. For such a 'young' Sangheili to attain such a high rank, he must have proved himself in battle many a time. 'Relkam's record certainly showed that: veteran of the Great War and the Jiralhanae war, he had proved himself with distinction on every account. But with all the glories that came with war, he also had the scars to prove it: he was blind in his left eye with a scar running along his face, the result of a close shave with a human sniper. There were numerous other ones too, but the armour he wore concealed them.

"I came to see if the fleet had taken all the glory in the fight, it would have been a shame for us to come all this way for me not to be able to test my troops," Relkam said eagerly, he clearly wanted to try out some new strategy he had formulated.

Rtas keyed a few commands on his console, transferring the intelligence reports from the UNSC over to a datapad. A green ping announced that the command was completed. He started walking towards the Field Marshal, datapad in hand. "As a matter of fact 'Relkam, I have just ordered the fleet into orbit above the human colony." He held out the datapad.

Relkam's eyes brightened up for a moment, taking the datapad from him. Quickly browsing through its contents, his eyes shot back up to meet Rtas. "So it would seem that you did save some honour for us, now just do us a favour and don't plasma bombard them before we've had our chance."

Rtas shot him the Sangheili equivalent of a sarcastic face. "The thought had crossed my mind you know? The glory would have been all mine and I wouldn't have to share." He said, Relkam shaking his head slightly. "But no, I want to know these aliens fight, and how our troops fare against them in battle."

"We are ready Imperial Fleetmaster. Tell us what must be accomplished and we shall see it done." Relkam replied confidently.

Rtas nodded before walking back to the tactical display, gesturing Relkam to follow him. "According to the intelligence we have been given, the alien forces have surrounded the city and are slowly squeezing the remaining UNSC troops further and further in." Rtas tapped a few buttons, and a bird's eye view of Archam appeared, complete with thermal imagery. "According to initial orbital scans, the largest concentration of enemy troops is here, 4 kilometres southwest from the city centre. They appear to be massing their forces for a final push. There is also fierce fighting here, around the UNSC command centre. Now tell me about how you plan to secure the planet."

Relkam stared at the map for a few seconds, before looking back at Rtas and grinned.

* * *

 **11th January 2592**

 **City of Archam**

 **0400 GMT, New Madrid**

Dawn broke across the city of Archam. The rays of light illuminating destroyed buildings, wrecked vehicles and corpses that littered the streets. Thick black columns of smoke rose into the air, visible from miles away. Gunfire was heard across the city as the last remnants of the UNSC forces made their last stand around their command centre. The once gleaming city was now just another battlefield. Apartments, once filled with life, now filled with dead soldiers who died trying to hold the building. Once defence line CHARLIE fell, it was down to the absolute last few lines of defences, every building became a stronghold with whoever and whatever the UNSC could garrison them with. Intense house to house fighting ensued, with the aliens trying to clear out the UNSC defenders with heavy weapons and incendiaries.

Ramirez sighted an alien, and squeezed the trigger. A second later, the alien's brains painted the wall behind it. Seeing its comrade fall, another alien began firing at him. Blue tracers impacting the concrete fortifications with a resounding crack. Ramirez ducked as the next burst filled the air where his head was a second ago. What was left of his battalion was holding the hastily erected barricade made from the rubble. There were a series of these barricades set up on all the streets leading to the command centre, The defences were centred around a K-Dragon tank, a pair of Warthogs and whatever infantry they could find. This was the UNSC's final stand in Archam, if the command centre fell, the city would be lost. The alien infantry had been trying to break through for hours, constantly throwing themselves into the fight with little regard for their own safety. Each time they charged, the tired UNSC troops held the line, and the charge was broken like water on stone. But with every charge, the aliens slowly eroded away the UNSC defenders. At first, there were over 200 men holding this barricade, now there were just 80. The K-Dragon ran out of ammo an hour ago, and the Warthogs were wrecks, bodies of GI's slumped over the chain gun, blood dripping onto the empty ammunition boxes.

 _Hell, I'm not even sure where the rest of my men are. This here is just a collection of everyone who's left._ Ramirez thought to himself as he ejected the empty magazine. As he reached for the spare magazines he kept of his belt, he felt nothing. He moved his hand around, tapping the places which should have had a magazine until he finally found one. He yanked it out of the belt and slid it into his DMR, a satisfying click indicated that it was loaded properly. _My last mag, fucking brilliant._

Finding the courage to raise his head above the barricades once again, he raised his rifle and squeezed the trigger, aiming every shot. The remaining UNSC troops with him stood steadfast, controlling their bursts against the tide of alien infantry. The gunfire drowned out the screams of a private as a round tore right through her armour, yet before she could scream anymore, another round went through her head. She slumped against the barricade, dead, blood trickling down her forehead. Ramirez didn't even bat an eye towards her and kept firing. Bullet after bullet, casing after casing, left his gun, until he squeezed the trigger, and heard an empty click. Cursing, he checked the ammunition counter, confirming what he already knew. There in blue, it simply displayed a single number, 0. Ramirez swore and took cover again, without the ability to fire his weapon, he couldn't do much, so he looked around him instead to inspect the barricade.

"I'm out! Who's got ammo?!" He called out. He was answered with a series of 'no's', and shaking heads. The few soldiers who still had ammo were down to their last few bullets as well, once they ran out, the alien infantry would rush the barricade and overrun it. Barely a minute after Ramirez called out for ammunition, the last UNSC rifle went silent, and the shouts of the enemy infantry could be heard. He looked to himself and wracked his brain what he could actually do right now.

 _So we're out of ammunition. We can't retreat, but if we stay here we can't shoot back._ He told himself, _well there's only one thing to do then._

He keyed into the comms system for the local area. "Everyone, form on me now." He said hoarsely, his throat was dry and parched, but he somehow managed to give out that order. As the survivors huddled around him, the enemy footsteps got louder and louder. Ramirez scanned each of his remaining troops briefly,

"Alright listen up, we're out of ammo, and we can't run. But if we stay here, we die. But if we're going to die we might as well take some of them with us." He said, some of his troops could see where this was leading too, others just looked confused or lost. "So let's fix bayonets."

As the words sank in, blank eyes stared back at him, realising what Ramirez had just ordered them to do. A private found the courage to speak ask, "Sir? You want to fix bayonets and charge the enemy?"

Ramirez looked back at the private, "Yes private, we have no other choice. I doubt these aliens are in a mood to take prisoners, so we will die anyway if we stay. At least this way we can take some of them with us, and no one will think any less of us. We did our duty to the end."

The private nodded, accepting his fate. Ramirez looked around and received a few more nods. For a brief moment there, Ramirez felt himself weaken, he was about to give an order that no commander had given in hundreds of years. He was about to ask disciplined, brave, loyal UNSC soldiers to charge, most likely to their deaths. But they were willing to do it, and that was what touched him.

"Alright then," And at the top of his lungs he yelled out. "FIX BAYONETS."

His order was echoed out by the few officers that remained. Everyone pressed a small button on the front of their weapons, and underneath each barrel appeared a 7-inch steel blade. Ramirez peeked his head above the rubble to get a look at the alien infantry, they couldn't be more than 30 meters away. Again, mustering all his strength, he toggled his own bayonet and screamed. "FOR THE UNSC, FOR HUMANITY, AND FOR OUR FALLEN BROTHERS AND SISTERS. CHARGE!"

As he rushed over the top of the barricade, his men took up the war-cry and followed him, screaming. The aliens seemed to halt for a moment, as if confused by what they were really seeing, for a moment Ramirez thought he even saw an alien or two lower its weapon. It wasn't every day you saw a last-ditch attempt to stop your advance, let alone a bayonet charge. The 'Bayonet Revival', as it was termed by the GI's was a fairly recent development, happening within the last decade or so. Some army commanders were appalled by the UNSC's lack of melee training during the Great War, and it showed whenever the Covenant got close enough. UNSC soldiers would try whacking the enemies with their rifle butts, but what good is that going to do for the average soldier when facing a Sangheili energy sword or a Jiralhanae gravity hammer. So some petitioning and pestering later, HIGHCOM agreed that there was enough room in the military budget to allow for all frontline weapons to be equipped with a bayonet. Since it's reintroduction in the military, the bayonet hadn't seen much use. Until now.

Ramirez closed the distance between himself and the nearest alien relatively quickly, adrenaline fueling his body despite knowing how tired he really was. As he lunged the bayonet into the alien's abdomen, he felt something discharging, almost like a mini electric shock.

 _Must have been the shielding._ He realised, pulling the bayonet out once again only to bury it again in the alien's abdomen. He remembered his training back in drill school, his drill instructor subconsciously shouting at him: lunge, twist, withdraw. He twisted the bayonet and forcibly withdrew it, the alien screaming in pain as it collapsed, talons trying to cover up the blood now seeping out of two wounds. As Ramirez scanned for another target, his fellow comrades were taking down their first targets. They all got about a kill each before the aliens started opening fire. Blue tracer fire ripped into his men, screams from both sides overpowered the staccato of gunfire. Ramirez spotted another alien about 10 metres away from him aiming at a corporal who had just stabbed its comrade. He shouted out a war cry and started running at the alien, bayonet first. The alien, now distracted with a more immediate threat, turned to face Ramirez and let off a burst. One managed to nick Ramirez in the shoulder, the momentum throwing it backwards, but he kept running. Seconds before he was about to plunge his bayonet into his second victim, the alien sidestepped causing Ramirez to miss his charge while withdrawing something that looked like a sword from a device on its wrist. Without a moment's hesitation, the alien slashed the blade across Ramirez's chest, and he collapsed face first onto the street.

His chest burned with pain, he had never felt anything this painful in his life before. As he cried out on the street, he felt himself being rolled over. He stared at the alien, knowing what would come next. The alien raised it's weapon and aimed it straight at his face. And Ramirez shut his eyes and waited to meet his death. Yet that moment, he felt himself get colder as if the heat from the sun weren't shining on him.

 _Wait, why am I not dead yet?_ He asked himself. Hoping he wouldn't regret his decision, he opened his eyes. The alien was still pointing his weapon at him, but the alien itself was looking up to the sky as a shadow started to loom over the city. A second later, it withdrew it's weapon and started running after its comrades. Confused, Ramirez looked up and saw a blurred outline now breaking through the clouds. He strained his eyes to focus on the object that now blocked out the sunlight. That curved metallic silver hull, the shape that he instantly recognised: a CCS-class battlecruiser. The silver paint scheme identifying ships of the Sangheili Union.

Cheers went up from the bloodied survivors as the battlecruiser launched scores of banshees and deployed drop pods. As the drop pods made landfall, their hatches popped open and out came Sangheili minors, equipped with their plasma rifles, they opened fire on the retreating aliens. That classic whine which they made brought some measure of relief to Ramirez. More and more Sangheili ships began to break the cloud cover, Ramirez even managed to identify a CAS class assault carrier deploying swarms of dropships and fighters. But in that moment of hope, he felt something sticky seeping through his armour. He tapped his chest where the alien had slashed him, and he accepted his fate as he saw his blood running freely.

Whatever sword thing the alien had used, it had gone straight through his armour and cut deep into his body. In his final moments, Ramirez sighed and thought to himself.

 _So this is what death feels like._ With that, he let out his final breath and joined the thousands of other souls who perished. But unlike the others, Ramirez died with the comfort of knowing that the liberation of New Madrid was underway.

* * *

 **Outskirts of Archam, Alien Staging Ground**

 **New Madrid**

It had been almost 20 years since Rota Relkam, Field Marshal of the Sangheili Union, had been on a battlefield and he had not lost his edge. His plan to employ shock and awe tactics worked brilliantly. Orbital imagery had shown around 10,000 alien soldiers gathering near an abandoned farm on the outskirts of the city. Instead of deploying his troops in another place and meeting them in open battle, Rota dropped his troops into the centre of the enemy force, literally. Imperial Fleetmaster Vadum had manoeuvred the _Shadow of Intent_ right above them before deploying Rota's entire command in drop pods, Phantoms and Lich's. If the drop pods falling amongst them didn't scare the enemy, the 10 Scarab's did. The battle was over before it even began, it resulted in the death of 2,000 enemy troops along with the surrender of the remainder. Yet despite the success of the operation, he was disappointed, he had hoped for a challenge from these aliens. Instead, they surrendered quickly, once they realised that all hope was lost. He didn't get to see how his men performed in an actual pitched fight.

Rota growled in annoyance while browsing through the status reports of his commanders when he caught movement at the edge of his vision. A gold plated Sangheili strode over, with four Sangheili rangers behind him.

"Field Marshal," Raising his fist to his chest and bowing his head, the Sangheili equivalent of a salute. "We're stockpiling the enemy weapons for transport back to Sanghelios, our scientists will want to examine them. I have also taken the liberty of erecting some hasty fortifications around the farm where it will act as a prisoner of war camp."

"Very good commander, do we have a full account of the enemy munitions we captured as well as the casualty lists?"Rota asked.

"The final numbers for the small arms aren't in yet Field Marshal, but so far we stand at 120 vehicles, 30 gunships…" The gold plated Sangheili continued his report, but his voice was drowned out as a pair of Unggoy maned Ghosts shot by. "...2000 enemy dead, most killed either during our drop or seconds after. 8000 prisoners including what we believe is the enemy commander and its entire staff. On our side, we have no dead, and 35 wounded." His voice sounding much more satisfied as he finally ended his report.

 _No dead? Now that was interesting._ Rota contemplated before turning back to his subordinate. "And what of our forces deployed into the city itself? What do they report?"

"Our troops report that the city is secure, we arrived just in time. The UNSC forces were down to their last rounds, all their ammunition has nearly been spent. I even hear that a Major ordered a charge."

Rota chuckled to himself. "These humans are brave, doing things that no one expects them to do." He paused for a moment, thinking of his next orders. "Copy the reports and send them to Imperial Fleetmaster Vadum, he will want to have a look at them."

"By your will Field Marshal" The gold plated Sangheili saluted before walking away, rangers in tow.

Rota watched his forces go about their duties with pride. Unggoy minors were setting up plasma turret emplacements around the makeshift POW camp. Kig-Yar were cataloguing and storing the captured enemy weaponry. Sangheili organising sorties to go out and look for any survivors who might have escaped the initial slaughter. Deep down, Rota hoped that this rescue would bring the Union and the humans closer, perhaps even into an alliance. He knew what the Arbiter's goal was, and hoped that after 40 years, humans might be willing once again to join an alliance against a common enemy.

* * *

General Orias Vitallios was in shock. Only now was he realising the sheer scale of what he had committed. Not only had they stumbled onto what they thought was a primitive race, they had commited an act of war on TWO powerful races. Races that clearly were experienced in the arts of war. The most disciplined military force in the galaxy, at least according to him, was defeated. They had been so close to victory, another hour or so and they would have broken through. Yet victory was snatched from them, and instead, they were handed a crushing defeat.

Orias wasn't even sure about his forces in the city anymore, but he assumed that they were like all his men here. Dead or captured. He remembered how he was gathering his forces for one final assault, the assault that would win them the battle. They were about to set off when he saw what he regarded as impossible. A six kilometre ship broke through the clouds and deployed thousands of insertion pods, not to mention those monstrosities that they literally dropped as well. The pods crushed hundreds of his men, whilst they were recovering, the enemy forces used some form of energy or plasma based weapon which ignored kinetic barriers altogether. Even more brave Turians were cut down by those. The tactics these aliens employed were more brutal than the Krogan, and that said something. The Turian army, supposedly the most disciplined force in the galaxy lost heart and broke instantly in sight of this.

Now Orias was a prisoner on the planet he was tasked to capture. He wondered if Admiral Alnius was still alive, but he doubted it. If the enemy was as ruthless in space as they were on the ground, the fleet is most likely lost. His staff just now only managed to piece together what little they could regarding the survivors. Of the original 25,000 Turians deployed to the planet, 10,000 were dead, 3,000 wounded, 8,000 captured and the rest filed as missing. The remainder were most likely comprised of troops fighting in the city.

As a pair of alien fighters flew over the makeshift POW camp. Orias knew it was over for him, there was a very good chance he would never see Palaven or his family ever again. Even if he did make it back, he would be shamed and his career would be as good as dead. He had severely underestimated the enemy force and been beaten. His only hope now for a chance to live, was for the Citadel Council to step in.

* * *

 **UNSC** _ **Bay of Salamis**_ **, Armageddon Class Battlecruiser**

 **0400 GMT, System of New Madrid**

The battle for New Madrid was over. With the destruction of the alien fleet In space and the capitulation of hostile forces on the ground fighting, the UNSC and the Union had won the day. But it wasn't without cost.

Athena had just reestablished contact with the planet and they sent up their reports. In her ready room, she looked them over. The casulty figures were staggering. Over 18,000 UNSC servicemen lost their lives defending the planet. Along with 10 ships, including the battlecruiser _Trafalgar._ The damage report for her own ship had just come in. 2123 of her crew were lost, nearly a third of the total crew complement. Repair teams were working around the clock to repair whatever damage they could do without proper drydocking facilities. Without the timely arrival of the Union forces, the casulty count would have been much higher and the planet would have been lost. But there was a silver lining to all this, UNSC frigates _Pike_ and _Meridian_ arrived not too long ago, they were now deployed planetside to assist in any way possible. Most importantly, during the engagement, Amelia had managed to hack into their systems and obtain every single byte of data regarding their host. Her senior officers were now combing through the mountain of intelligence and sorting it out in preparation for its transfer to ONI.

A ping on her comms unit disrupted her thoughts. "Yes?" She answered.

Commander Duellos walked in, his head wound now bandaged up, and saluted. "Captain. We are recieving a transmission from Admiral Dunheart."

Forcing herself to stand up, she tugged her uniform slightly. "Thank you Captain put it through."

A second later, the admiral appeared on the holoprojector. "Captain Greyson, I just recieved word that the battle is over. I am glad you are still alive Athena. We recieved your message and I forwarded it to HIGHCOM. The 8th Fleet is 8 hours out with the 14th and 16th Fleets a day out at most." He said calmly before adopting a more serious tone. "Captain Greyson, your report if you please."

Athena recounted the battle, from the moment they entered the system followed by the hostile engagement to the UNSC challenge for ID, to her charge and the loss of the _Trafalgar_ , finally concluding with the arrival of the Union Fleet of Eternal Repentance and the liberation of New Madrid.

Through her report, Admiral Dunheart stared at her intently. "Good God Athena, you had 20 ships against 680! How did you manage to pull that off? Those are odds never even heard off, even during the Great War!"

"Sir, it is my conclusion that our weapons, shields and armour are far superior to those of our counterparts. However they do have two advantages, the first is that they're much more maneuverable than us, the second is that they possess a missile of sorts that has the ability to penetrate our shields." She paused for a moment, before releasing a sigh. "As the crew of the _Trafalgar_ found out to their dismay. We also wouldn't be here if Union did not reach us in time."

Dunheart's eyes widened at the mention of missiles capable of penetrating shielding. "Captain if the enemy possess a weapon that bypasses our primary defensive capabilities then we have a problem. That puts every ship in service at risk." If a UNSC battlecruiser could be crippled by enough of these missiles, one could only imagine what damage it wrecked on the smaller tonnage vessels. "Tell me about the unknown structure in the system, have we identified what it is and its purpose?"

Athena stared at the floor, she knew this question was going to come out eventually. Amelia had compiled all the data taken from the enemy computers and put together a summary for her. In short, it did not look good at all. Athena had to read over the summary again and again just to make sure of what she was reading. Even now her senior officers were locked in the conference room pouring over the intelligence which ONI would no doubt classify immediately.

"Captain?" Dunheart called out, realising that she was distracted.

"Admiral, I-," Athena swallowed her words, bracing herself for what she was about to say. "As I mentioned earlier, during the battle I ordered Amelia, my shipboard AI, to hack into their databases for an information gathering mission. She managed to recover terabytes worth of information which my senior officers are sorting through now, in preperation for ONI." Athena typed a few commands in and brought up a visual imagery of the structure.

"This," She continued, gesturing at the image of the structure that resembled an oversized tuning fork . "Is a Mass Relay, a 20 kilometre long structure capable of propelling a ship at speeds beyond comprehension over vast distances in a very short amount of time. I'm talking about speeds much faster than our own slipspace drives admiral.

Dunheart looked stunned as he tried to comprehend speeds faster than FTL. Athena took his silence as a que to continue. "These Mass Relays work in pairs, meaning that this relay can only transit ships to one specific other relay. There are variants known as Secondary Mass Relay but I will talk about that later." The aging admiral nodded and gestured Athena to continue.

"Based on the information captured, this relay leads into territory controlled by the race that attacked us. They are known as Turians, an avian like species with a powerful military." Athena paused again, and braced herself as she was about to drop the bombshell. "They are part of an intragalactic alliance known as the Citadel Council."

Dunheart was definitely shaken, he placed his hands on the table as he tried to comprehend what he just heard. Then he realised the same thing which Athena had realised not too long ago. Humanity just had another violent first contact with an intragalactic alliance which so far has turned out to be xenophobic. To the veteran commander, this all just sounded far too familiar.

* * *

 _Office of Naval Intelligence_

 _Clearance: Level 2 (Analyst and higher)_

 _Department: ONI Section 1_

 _Report Subject: Union Military Breakdown_

 _Date Published: 10th August 2573_

 _Following the formation of the Sangheili Union, it was decided by Arbiter Thel Vadam to keep the existing fleet relevant through modernisation rather than designing a brand new set of warships. As a result, the Union fleet of today still consists of many vessels from the Great War including: CAS class assault carriers, CCS class battlecruisers, CPV class destroyers etc. Though there are several smaller class ships that have been introduced into the Union fleet, primarily for picket duty. The Union Navy is comprised of 24 active fleets, with each fleet being headed up by a CAS class assault carrier, or in some cases, an OAS class supercarrier._

 _The Union Army is also in a similar state to that of the Navy. It uses modernised vehicles from the Great War. However, there are intelligence reports indicating that the Arbiter has ordered a total overhaul of handheld firearms for the military. There is a one-year compulsory national service period of which all citizens of the Union must serve._

 _Union Special Forces, or SPECOPS, comprise primarily of Sangheili Rangers, though there are cases were members from other species in the Union are permitted to join and form their own regiments. There is a sub-division simply known as the Imperial Household Guard, that falls under the direct command of Arbiter Thel Vadam. While not much is known about them, they are supposedly the Union counter to ONI's SPARTAN program._

 _Note: The last count from ONI sources detailed at least 8 OAS class supercarriers in active service._

* * *

 **AN: This concludes the first major battle of the story, please feel free to leave comments on your thoughts and opinions of the story so far. Or point out any mistakes I may have made.**


	7. Chapter 7: What we set in motion

**The Citadel**

 **Serpent Nebula**

Deep in the Serpent Nebula, a large space station hung in space. The Citadel was the hub for all known races, it was the seat of the Citadel Council as well as numerous embassies. Here on this 50-kilometre long space station, commerce flowed in and out, migrants of all species moved here in search of better fortunes. Protected by hundreds of warships, mainly supplied by the Turian Hierarchy, the station was safe from all harm. C-Sec ensured that law and order were maintained on the streets and commons, chasing down anyone or anything that is suspected to have broken the law. Through these efforts, peace is constantly maintained throughout the Citadel.

Yet in the council's private conference room, it was anything but peaceful.

"YOUR PEOPLE DID WHAT NOW SPARATUS?" Tevos shouted, with nearly no decorum given for an indoor voice. Asari are supposed to be the voice of reason in the Council, they are also supposed to be the most diplomatic. Right now, Councilor Tevos was anything but diplomatic. She was feeling rage, fear, curious and sympathy all at the same time. As one of the three council leaders, it was her responsibility to keep the members of the Citadel species safe. The fact that one of her colleagues, a fellow councillor, had compromised this, was a problem.

Sparatus shot his hands up in defence, "Believe me Tevos, I had the exact same reaction as you when I found out about this. The navy answers to the Primarch first, the Primarch only just informed me yesterday." Despite his supposed innocence, Tevos wanted to rip the Turian Councilors head off, how could they be so aggressive? Attacking an unknown alien race because they broke a law that they didn't know even existed in the first place. Could anyone be so possibly stupid.

Tevos could feel the rage beginning to overpower her, she balled her fists and used every single bit of self-control to prevent herself from assaulting the Turian Councilor. "Sparatus by the spirits. How can your people do this! We have no idea of the possible repercussions this could have on us. In all my years of diplomatic service, I have never seen anyone do anything so stupid before in my life! I have half a mind to kick-"

"Councilors please!" Councilor Valern shouted. "Maintain decorum, we won't achieve anything by simply shouting at each other."

Funnily enough, the Salarian Councilor reminding Tevos about the arts of diplomacy actually calmed her down. Part of her actually felt bad that she lashed out at Sparatus. "You're right Councilor Valern, thank you for reminding me of my place."

Valern nodded in acknowledgement before turning to Sparatus. "Sparatus, let's just get this straight first. The Turian 12th Fleet was in patrol around Relay 314, upon discovering it's activation the fleet jumped through the relay and met an unknown fleet orbiting an unknown species homeworld. Following council law, your fleet then engaged the enemy fleet and defeated it at the cost many of your ships. Following which a Turian expeditionary force was deployed to secure the planet. Yet before you could take the planet, enemy reinforcements arrived and somehow managed to wipe out the majority of your fleet, but the enemy fleet sustained heavy damage in return. And before you could destroy the enemy fleet, more than 300 ships of unknown design appeared and effectively wiped out the 12th Fleet. Causing no more than 14 of the original 800 ships to abandon the ground forces and retreat through the relay to which they then reported it to the Primarch who then reported it to you. Have I gotten the story right Councilor?"

Sparatus scrunched his mandibles for a bit, imagining if the Salarian Councilor got it all right. "Yes, that is essentially the gist of it. I have the full report now from the surviving ship commanders, along with all data acquired during the battle. I am forwarding the data to your omni-tools now."

Tevos opened her tool and briefly went through the report's contents. She made a mental note to herself to re-read the report later in more detail. But while scanning though, something caught her eye which couldn't be true. "Sparatus these readings can't be right! A 5.4-kilometre long ship? That's nearly twice the length of _Destiny Ascension_! And multiple ships which were registered as super-dreadnoughts?!" She wasn't prepared to accept that fact that the pride of the Asari Navy was no longer the biggest kid on the block.

Valern took interest at this and scrolled to the same page in the report. "No eezo readings detected either? Impossible. Everything in this universe runs on eezo. But if there are no eezo readings, it would explain how they managed to build their ships so large."

Sparatus who himself was seeing the report for the first time spoke up in alarm. "Spirits, they use nuclear weapons! And they're main weapons, the main battery of these super-dreadnoughts was enough to one-shot a dreadnought!" Tevos listened as Sparatus began to panic as the list went on: missiles with superior guidance systems, cluster munitions, energy weapons, the list went on and on. Sparatus sounded scared, all of a sudden the Turian Navy sounded like it might have a potential opponent they might not be able to defeat. It also didn't help when he saw what it took to destroy one of these super-dreadnoughts.

Being an Asari, Tevos immediately voiced what she regarded as the most pressing concern. "First of all, I think a diplomatic mission needs to be sent to this planet. We need to establish that this was a misunderstanding and that we wish to coexist in peace. Once that happens we can then work out the finer details, we can even get them to join the Citadel."

Valern shook his head in disagreement. "I'm not sure about that Tevos." Tevos was about to question the Salarian but decided to let Valern keep talking. "Look at the ship designs, clearly we have two very different design aesthetics here. One being very bulky with straight angles, practical and simple. Let's While the other has more curved features to it, more mysterious and unknown. These alone suggest to me that we are dealing with at the very least, two new species. For now, let's assume that there are two new species and that the ships belong to Species 1 and Species 2 respectively. Then there is the question of the ships that arrived later, the first wave of reinforcements was only 20 ships compared to the 300 plus in the second wave. Given that we assaulted the enemy homeworld, would it not be incorrect to assume that Species 1 would have a protectorate status with Species 2? After all, it was Species 2 who turned up with a much bigger fleet and they would be answering to Species 1's call for help. As such if we are making a diplomatic mission, we should aim it at both species rather than a single one."

Tevos nodded in agreement, Valern made some good points. If indeed Species 1 was a protectorate of Species 2, then it only made more sense to approach the more powerful of the two. Chances are, Species 1 would follow the path of Species 2.

Sparatus took the short silence as an opportunity to speak. "You mentioned offering these new species places on the Citadel. I think that would be quite difficult considering the position my people put them in."

Tevos had her answer to this almost immediately. "Simple Sparatus, the Turian Hierarchy will pay reparations to them for the damages caused."

Sparatus swung his head towards her faster than a bullet, "ABSOLUTELY NOT! This is out of the question. I think I share the Primarch's opinion on this when I say the Hierarchy will not pay for damages when we are upholding Citadel law against those who would break it. My people would rather go to war than suffer this humiliation."

"Yet these species did not know about our laws in place! If they don't know about the laws in the first place, how can we expect them to uphold them." Tevos countered she could feel her blood begin to boil again.

"Sparatus, I'm inclined to agree with Tevos on this one. There are simply too many unknowns about these people. Let's look at their ships again. First of all, none of them has a single trace of eezo aboard, which would explain how they managed to build them so large in the first place. Second, they are equipped with energy shielding, actual energy shielding that stops all form of weaponry except for disruptor torpedoes. Third, the destructive potential of their weapons is worrying, especially given that Species 1 uses nuclear weapons and Species 2 utilises some form of plasma-based energy weapons. Fourth, they travel using an unknown form of FTL. I would say pay them reparations and then integrate them into the Citadel alliance. Once we admit them, think of all the technological breakthroughs we could make. We could easily challenge the Quarians, Geth, Batarians and even expand our influence into the Terminus systems! And since it's already been activated, expand our territory beyond Relay 314."

Sparatus let out a sigh of defeat. "I'll admit, their offensive and defensive capabilities are impressive and that integrating them into our alliance is in our best interests. But the fact that the Turian Hierarchy must front the reparations alone will face enormous political resistance back on Palaven. I must also point out now that my government will find it highly insulting if we, the Turians, are replaced as the Council's primary military force."

Tevos sympathised somewhat with Sparatus on this matter. If Hierarchy was made to pay reparations, it would be political suicide for Sparatus. And despite the arguments they have had, she actually liked Sparatus. They had a good working relationship and she wasn't prepared to see him go just yet. As for the military, the Turians were a prideful people, and since the beginning, they had been the Citadel Council's primary military force. To have that position usurped from them would be an insulting blow to their pride and honour that they will never forgive. "Actually Sparatus I've had a change of heart, the Asari Republics will contribute to the reparations, our economy can handle it. Plus I think that if we do this, we project a united front. And you really don't have to worry about us replacing the Turians as our primary military force, there is no other species suited to the job."

"An excellent notion Councilor Tevos, the Salarian Union will be happy to contribute to the reparations as well. In the interest of unity." Valern chipped in.

Sparatus did the Turian equivalent of a smile, his political career would survive those terms for reparations. "Thank you all for this, the Hierarchy will remember this."

Tevos nodded in appreciation, this is what she loved about the Council. That despite all shit they may go through at times, they could still unite. "Now if only we knew more about them. All information that we could supply the diplomatic team will give them another advantage to use. Was no other intelligence acquired from this incident?" Directing the question at Sparatus.

Sparatus shook his head in defeat. "Unfortunately no. All we know is that Species 1 are bipedal and that they are incredibly brave and stubborn warriors. All attempts at salvaging data from their computers were failures, they were either deliberately destroyed or had their data cores wiped. As for Species 2, we know almost nothing about. From what I've been told, we never got the chance to take prisoners as well, in the few instances where we nearly did, they literally fought to the last soldier. We were forced to wipe them out. However, I must point out now that militarily, these species have a very strong military and pose a threat to all of our ships. Therefore the diplomatic mission must include ships from all of us, not only to project a united front but to show these people that we mean business and we should not be taken for granted."

"Then how about we send in a pair of Specters on a covert fact-finding mission. See if we can acquire more intelligence." Valern suggested. Tevos knew that if the Specters went, an STG team would be following close behind.

"I would agree with you Valern if we knew more. But in this instance, it's too risky. If our Specters, the Council's right hand, are caught, we might only aggravate them further. They would probably see it as a breach to their sovereignty." She countered. On the surface, it was a valid point, but internally Tevos knew that if they were successful, the STG would have access to that information too and they might not be willing to share. Valern nodded in acknowledgement of his colleagues' decision, but she was convinced that he shot a passive aggressive look telling her that he had the same thinking as she did.

Tevos quickly changed the topic, "Going back to the topic of sending a diplomatic fleet, I propose we assemble a large fleet comprising of ships from our navies to form the escort for the diplomatic party. All those in favour?" Tevos raised her hand, Valern and Sparatus copied her moments later. "Then the Asari Republics will contribute a single fleet along with the _Destiny Ascension._ " It was a classic diplomatic play, offer them peace but at the same time show that the Council will not be afraid to use force if necessary. What better way to do that than to send the largest ship in Citadel fleet.

Sparatus pulled himself up, having regained some pride. "The Hierarchy will contribute the 5th Fleet. Along with two Blackwatch teams."

"The Salarian Union will supply a single fleet as well as multiple stealth vessels for the operation," Valern said, clearly trying to increase the prestige of his people with the stealth vessels.

"Very well. If neither of you has a problem with this, then I suggest that we assemble the fleet here first before travelling to Relay 314." Tevos said, both Valern and Sparatus nodded their heads, indicating their support for this. "Then it's settled, our fleets will converge here to form the diplomatic fleet and then as one, will set off for Relay 314 to initiate formal first contact with the unknown species. The fleet departs as soon as preparations are complete. Once peaceful relations have been established, we get them to join the Citadel, from there we can exploit their technology and expand our influence." She grabbed the gavel next to her and banged it on the table indicating the end of the meeting.

As she began the short walk back to her office, she paused and stared out a passing viewscreen. She thought to herself as she watched a Turian cruiser dock into one of the many berths on the Citadel, with the _Destiny Ascension,_ the pride of the Asari people, lazily hanging in the background outside the Citadel arms. This would be one of the largest joint operations since the Krogan Rebellion Whatever happens in the near future will either result in the outcome of the biggest threat to the Council in history or another successful integration of an empire into the Council. This could go so many ways. Over 1800 ships will be converging here in the next week or so to form the diplomatic fleet. If that wasn't a show of force, she didn't know what would.

* * *

 **12th January 2592**

 **UNSC** _ **Infinity,**_ **Infinity class Supercarrier**

 **Orbit of New Madrid**

Despite being nearly 40 years old, the _Infinity_ is still regarded as the most prestigious UNSC vessel in active service, and as such remains the flagship of the entire UNSC navy. She had been modernised twice her original commissioning, she was now equipped with the latest offensive and defensive measure. The flagship of Lord Admiral Hood himself, the ship has seen its fair share of fighting, but in recent years with the relative peace that existed between the Union and the United Human Federation (UHF), she had been relegated to standing guard over _Bastion_. Now she was on the frontlines once again, preparing to fight another enemy of humanity. As she lay in orbit around New Madrid, Broadsword fighters flew around her in a combat air patrol while Pelicans darted in and out of her many hangars delivering relief supplies to the planet below. An Eridani class frigate slowly overtook the massive supercarrier, it's 540m long hull bathed in _Infinity's_ shadow, simply emphasizing the size of the flagship of the UNSC.

Since the conclusion of the battle of New Madrid, what was left of Athena's battlegroup had been reinforced with an additional three UNSC fleets: the 8th, 14th and 16th and more were on the way. There were now over 1500 UNSC ships of all types along with 500 Union ships. The Arbiter Thel Vadam himself brought additional ships along with the latest addition to the Union fleet, his personal command the 50-kilometre long UAS class supercarrier _Icon of Sanghelios_. The only one of its kind so far, it was a literal floating city rather than a dedicated warship. It was equipped with shipyards, a civilian sector, mining facilities, several army bases and a heck of a lot more which ONI wasn't able to identify. To an extent, it's role was something similar to what _High Charity,_ the former capital of the Covenant, was minus the lack of having a government role. It was essentially an enlarge CSO class supercarrier.

Given the gravity of the situation, this was now the largest gathering of UNSC and Union in one location since the Great War. Athena's own battlecruiser was docked with Epirus Mobile Repair Dock (MRD), undergoing drastic repairs. The dockmaster had given her a rough estimate of 12 days before she would be combat ready again. Athena wanted to pass out when she heard that number, she knew the damage was bad, but 12 days was definitely more than what she was expecting. 3 of the engines had to be replaced, reactor overhauled, shield generators restored and then would when the hull damage was factored in, 12 days was really pushing the repair crews to the limit.

Athena frowned at the datapad once more as she checked over the repair list. There were a few things she wanted to bring up with the dockmaster, but that would have to wait. Right now she was on her way to _Infinity,_ Lord Admiral Hood had called for a meeting and according to Admiral Dunheart, had personally requested her presence. There was only one problem, no one had actually told her about the meeting until about 5 minutes ago, which was why the Pelican she was in was pushing its engines to the absolute limit to get her there in time. Deciding that there was not much else to look at from her datapad, she stood from her seat and walked over to the cockpit. The constant droning from the engines accompanying her footsteps as she walked across the metal floor.

As she walked in, the pilot began preparing the landing sequence. "Infinity flight control, this is Pelican 783 inbound from the _Bay of Salamis_ carrying Salamis actual _._ Requesting permission to land."

The reply, a strong Russian female accented voice came over the speaker. "Roger that Pelican 783, alter heading to 283 and proceed to hangar 5 for landing. Do not deviate from your flightpath pilot, a lot of traffic today and the last thing I need is a mid-space collision."

Chuckling to herself, the pilot responded with the necessary professionalism. "Affirmative Infinity flight control, adjusting heading to 283 and proceed to hangar 5. I'll try not to hit anyone on the way in."

The Pelican swooped past a flight of Broadswords and entered the hangar. In a single smooth manoeuvre, she rotated 180 degrees while deploying her landing gear and gracefully touched down onto the hangar deck. As the ramp lowered, Athena was greeted by a small escort party at the foot of the ramp.

A Lieutenant flanked by two marine guards saluted her as she walked down. "Captain Greyson, Lieutenant Naimun, if you will follow me please, the meeting has already begun." As Athena was sped through _Infinity,_ she noticed the patch on the sleeve of the Lieutenant - the flag of an old Earth country known as Malaysia. Athena allowed herself a smile as she reminisced over the country she grew up in. As they passed through crowded corridors and vast armouries, they were led to a meeting room deep in the bowels of the ship. Two Spartan V's stood guard outside the room, when they saw Athena they saluted and let her in. As she walked in, the room was illuminated in blue light from a holoprojector in the centre of a round table. At the table sat Admirals Dunheart, Hackett, Lasky, Imperial Fleetmaster Vadum, Arbiter Thel Vadam in his all gold armour and finally Lord Admiral Hood himself. Interrupted by her entry, they all turned their heads towards her.

Athena pulled herself up straighter and snapped off the best salute she could pull off. "Captain Athena Greyson of the battlecruiser _Bay of Salamis_ reporting as ordered sirs."

Lord Hood stood up and walked over offering his hand out first. "Captain Greyson, thank you for coming so quickly. I think I speak on everyone's behalf here when I say that the 21st Battlecruiser Division fought with pride and skill that defines the best of the UNSC and the UHF."

Athena was shocked, Lord Admiral Hood, hero of the Great War was offering his hand out. This was a man that every cadet who went to the academy looked up to. Athena took it, and shook it enthusiastically, "Lord Admiral Hood, it's an honour to meet you."

Hood smiled and withdrew his hand, "Captain, I asked for your presence here for a few things. But first of all, I would like to congratulate you on some of the best and craziest manoeuvres I have seen since…" He paused for a moment, as if remembering a bitter memory, Athena suspected it was the deceased Captain Jacob Keyes. "...since the Great War. Not any commander could have pulled off what you did, especially when outnumbered with those odds. Anyway, you may not have noticed, but everyone in this room is an Admiral of sorts except you, and given the context of the situation you technically aren't authorised to be in here."

Confusion took Athena over, if she wasn't allowed to be in here, then...why was she in here? "Sir? I don't understand, but you sent for me-"

"Relax sailor." Lord Hood cut her off with a very calming tone. He walked back to the table and picked up a small velvet covered box that was sitting next to his files, and walked back over. "It is of the consensus here Captain, that you have distinguished yourself admirably in battle. You have brought honour to humanity and to the UNSC. You fought against odds never heard of in our history and with a little help, prevailed. You could have run at the first sight of the aliens, but you stayed and fought. Reminds me of Admiral Cole actually. "

He paused for a moment, setting a tense mood in the atmosphere, before opening the box and offering it to her. "Captain Athena Greyson, it is by the will of the Admiralty and me, that in recognition of your valiant, honourable and loyal service to the UNSC, you are hereby promoted to Rear-Admiral and ordered to take command of the newly refitted 16th Fleet." Athena looked down at the contents of the box, and there lay a silver star, the insignia bearing the rank of a Rear-Admiral.

As she took the box from Lord Hood, she was stunned. She was not expecting this at all, sure she was preparing herself for some congratulations maybe a pat on the back, but a promotion, definitely not. "Lord Admiral H-Hood…" She stammered as she struggled to find the words. "I don't know what to say."

"Say yes and thank you dammit Athena!" Admiral Dunheart said in a raised voice as he and the other Admirals stood up and walked over to offer their congratulations.

Athena allowed herself a small chuckle, "Thank you, Lord Admiral. It is an honour." She said while shaking the hands of her now fellow Admirals.

"Don't thank me just yet Admiral. You will realise that amount of paperwork that an Admiral has to do and you will wish you were a Captain again." Lord Hood countered, earning laughs from the others. "Actually Admiral Dunheart recommended you for the position himself, and I was inclined to agree with him. If what has transpired here blows out into a full-scale war, I need experienced and brave commanders leading the way. Commanders who know what our enemy is capable of."

He gestured to an empty chair for Athena. "Admiral if you would take your seat, we have more urgent matters to discuss." He adjusted the holoprojector to show a real-time version of the galaxy. The UHF territory highlighted in red to the south-east of the galactic core, the Union in dark blue just above them. "Now based on the intelligence that Admiral Greyson managed to acquire, this is what the map now looks like." The remaining unfilled of the galaxy were covered in several colours.

"First of all, let me reassure you all that the populations, number of planets in the UHF and the Union are higher than these aliens. They cover a rather large portion of galactic space simply because they depend on the Mass Relays for travel and less on FTL. Most systems that are under their control have a Mass Relay in them, which allowed them to expand further out. According to the analysts at ONI, who by the way are having the times of their lives combing over this information, a lot of systems within their so-called borders are still unsurveyed. Their FTL systems are also rather inadequate, meaning that there are still plenty of planets in their territory ripe for colonising but are too far away from a Mass Relay. Between the Union and the UHF, together we control nearly half of galactic space. Admiral Lasky here has been working with Admiral Dare to further understand these species." He finished by gesturing to his de-facto protege.

Admiral Lasky leaned forward and clasped his hands together. "From what we can identify, there are seven major powers in the region. The main three are the Salarian Union, the Turian Hierarchy and the Asari Republics. These three governing bodies form the Citadel Council. They are the ultimate governing body in the region responsible for maintaining law and order, settling disputes between governments and passing judgement for violation of their law. That being said, each race maintains its own government, but technically answer to the Council. They control this region here, to the south-west of the galactic core." Lasky then shifted the map to highlight another part of the map above Council space.

"In this region, we have another three powers, the Terminus systems, the Geth, and the Quarian Migrant Fleet. The Terminus systems are in short, pirates and mercenaries who control the sector. The Quarian Migrant Fleet is a nomadic fleet which roams to the north of the galactic core. Which brings me to the Geth. The Geth are an AI race once created by the Quarians but rebelled against their creators. The Geth now occupy what was once Quarian controlled space."

He shifted the map to a portion of space that shared a border with the UHF. "This final power is the Batarian Hegemony. An autocratic government that runs its economy on slaves. The Batarians are also not directly affiliated with the Council, but they maintain an embassy there. Unofficially, the Batarians work closely with the Terminus Systems to conduct slave raids on independent colonies, so far, no one has been able to identify a direct link between the Terminus Systems and the Hegemony. On a separate note, the forces that attacked us were Turian. However whether this attack was sanctioned by the Council or not, it is unknown."

The room tensed up when Admiral Lasky mentioned the Batarian Hegemony, a government that ran its economy on slaves. Vadum looked like he wanted to rip out the chair and declare war immediately, but thankfully for the chair, he restrained himself. Slavery was strictly outlawed in both the UHF and the Union, anyone caught in the act was severely punished. In fact, in most cases, the offence was punishable by death by firing squad.

Lord Hood cleared his throat, catching the attention. "Moving on to what we will do next, I have been in discussion with President Nakamura on our course of action. Thankfully, we all agree with what must be done, though how severe is debatable. To put it plainly, we will give both the carrot and stick whether they like it or not. Just two hours ago, Admiral Dare deployed two prowlers to go through the relay. Once they transit to the other side, one prowler will remain in that system as an early warning system. The other will transit to this location." With that he brought up an image of a space station, five separate arms connected to a central ring.

"This is the Citadel, a 50-kilometre long space station from which the Citadel Council governs from. It is the seat of their power and prestige. It is the largest space station known to them. So-"

Lord Hood was cut off by a laugh from Vadum. "HAH! 50 kilometres? That is nothing, this looks like an ant next to your space station _Bastion_ or even _High Charity._ "

"While that is true, we should not underestimate our enemy Imperial Fleetmaster." Lord Hood replied, to which Vadum simply nodded. "As I was saying, the second will deploy to this location and deploy a cloaked slipspace beacon and remain on station for intelligence gathering purposes. This will give us the exact jump coordinates of the area."

Athena was just about to ask why they would need to do that when Admiral Hackett beat her to it. "Forgive me Lord Admiral, but why exactly do we need the jump coordinates for this...Citadel?" It was an obvious question, but Athena felt that Hackett was simply double-checking Lord Hood's intentions. Then it dawned on her that maybe Lord Hood himself planted that question.

Lord Hood lowered his head and stared at the floor for a moment. "Admiral your question is valid, and I shall now tell you why. The total count for the dead came in today, over 35,000 lives were lost in the attack on New Madrid. 35,000 military and civilians lives lost. The garrison on the planet below is down to less than 15% of its original strength. Loss of life this severe hasn't been heard of in decades." He paused, letting out a sigh which he had been holding in for a while. "We thought that we could uphold the peace, a peace that so many died for in the Great War. The peace after the war was something we...I thought we could uphold, especially after 27 years of war. The Turians, they hurt our pride with this attack. So we will hurt theirs." He typed commands on his datapad and sent a file to everyone in the room.

Athena saw the file's name, OPERATION: BURNING SKY. She opened it and saw her orders. Before she had a chance to have a proper read of them, Lord Hood continued. "At the order of President Nakamura, we will hurt their pride. We will show them that the Union and the UHF will not idly stand by while our worlds, our people are attacked. We will show the Council that we are a force to be reckoned with. Only when they understand that we are willing to fight to the last to protect what so many died for- will we offer to live in mutual coexistence. Ladies and Gentleman, we are counterattacking at the one place that will have the necessary impact. There." With that, he pointed to the 50-kilometre long structure known as the Citadel.

The room was still for a moment until Arbiter took the opportunity to say a few words. "Lord Hood, ever since the end of the Great War, my people have looked for ways to repent them. While I am saying that what I am about to offer will fulfil our repentance, it will help us on a personal level." Gesturing for Imperial Fleetmaster Vadum to stand, he clenched his fist and raised it to his chest and bowed slightly, his subordinate copying him. "Lord Hood, if you will have us, I hereby pledge the _Icon of Sanghelios_ and the Fleet of Eternal Repentance to your campaign. The ships that accompanied my flagship here will remain here to defend the system."

Lord Hood stood up and walked over, holding out his hand. "Thel, your assistance is greatly appreciated and accepted. We already owe you a debt for saving Admiral Greyson's battlegroup and the colony. Once again, let our people find unity against a common foe." The Arbiter, now all too familiar with human gestures, took Lord Hood's hand and shook it.

Releasing his grip, Lord Hood then turned to Athena and Admiral Hackett. "Admirals, your orders are to take your fleets to the Citadel, secure the space and deploy ground troops to the Citadel. Once your troops have been deployed, they will secure the Councilors and then you will force their surrender. Once their surrender has been received, President Nakamura herself will enter talks with them."

Athena forced herself to raise her concerns. "Lord Hood, I must protest this course of action. I cannot guarantee the ultimate safety of the President should combat turn ugly. Even if she was aboard one of our most heavily armed ships, the risk is still present."

A grin grew across the ageing man. "It won't matter Admiral Greyson, I assure you." He walked back to his seat and tapped a few buttons on his datapad. The holographic display changed from the galactic map to a 3D model of a ship. Only this was a ship design Athena didn't recognize, it looked somewhat of a hybrid between the Infinity class supercarrier and an old Halberd class destroyer.

"This is the UNSC _Preston Cole,_ a Sol class Super-dreadnought _._ For the last 15 years, this ship has been under construction in deep space. It was commissioned one month ago into the navy at the highest levels of secrecy. At a length of 55.8 kilometres, she will be the largest vessel ever built for the UNSC. A crew complement of 45,000 navy personnel and 50,000 marines. She also carriers over 800 Broadsword fighters and bombers along with 400 Pelicans. She is equipped with enough shipyards, supply yards, barracks and industrial facilities to keep several fleets going for a time. Armed with two Super PMACs, three PMACs and far too other armaments to say, she is also the most heavily armed ship we have ever built..."

Athena raised an eyebrow in awe as her attention faded away from her commander. This was the most powerful ship ever fielded by the UNSC. Looking at the sheer size of it, the costs must have been insane. Yet such a ship inspired her as a servicewoman, but deep down, she imagined the fear that this ship could strike in the hearts of their enemies.

She turned her attention back to Lord Hood. "...the _Preston Cole_ will accompany your fleets to the Citadel as the flagship of the President of the UHF. Another set of orders for you will be to protect the _Preston Cole_ at all costs. The _Preston Cole_ will arrive in two days, that is when you depart."

Athena remained mostly silent for the rest of the briefing as Lord Hood covered other topics. In her head, there were too many things to think about. But finally, for the first time since the end of the Great War, a UNSC fleet was being used in anger and going on the offensive to protect humanity from another galactic alliance.

* * *

 **UNSC** _ **In Plain Sight,**_ **Gobi class Prowler**

 **Relay 314**

Equipped with some of the most sophisticated reconnaissance equipment and sensors, the Gobi class Prowler was a suitable replacement for the Sahara class. ONI doctrine had changed somewhat since the end of the Great War. Strategists realised the destructive potential that prowlers could have if they were armed even than their Great War counterparts. Nuclear mines were deadly enough, but throw in some missiles and maybe a PMAC gun, and you have one heck of a stealth vessel. If the Gobi class Prowlers weren't cloaked, everyone would have seen two matt black 400-metre long craft suddenly jolt into realspace from the Mass Relays. However, these were the most advanced stealth craft the UNSC had ever constructed, not only did they have a state of the art cloaking field around them, the hull plating was made of a classified material that was able to absorb all known forms of electromagnetic radiation. So to the 12 Turian frigates on patrol in the system, all they would have seen would be an active Mass Relay and the black of space.

In a portion of space, within a cloaking field, a calm crew went about their work. They had just travelled thousands of light-years in an instant and yet they were relatively calm about it all things considered. These men and women worked for ONI, unknown and unusual ran in their DNA. If the Navy was the tip of the spear, then ONI's Prowler Corps was the poison that coated it. Working for ONI is no easy job, you can never talk about it to your close ones and you have to fight the urge to stop yourself from trying to find out more than you should know. It took tremendous amounts of discipline, secrecy and loyalty to be a good ONI agent, and that was what Captain David Anderson of the Prowler _In Plain Sight_ could admire about his men.

"Status report." He asked out to his bridge crew of 20, not really addressing anyone in particular.

"Transition complete, we have reached our destination in Turian space. Cloaking field operating with operational norms, all stealth systems engaged, we are running silent out here Captain." Replied Arial, the ship's local AI resident.

"Very well. Helm move us to point Alpha and begin mine laying sequence. Set for remote detonation only until further notice." Anderson ordered.

Anderson knew his orders, maintain position at Relay 314 as an early warning system for the joint UNSC-Union fleet now assembling on the other side of the Mass Relay. While he waited here on station, UNSC _Necessity_ \- the second Prowler that had come across - would depart for the Citadel to deploy a slipspace beacon for the upcoming attack. His orders involved him to block off all access to the Relay, and to do that, he would deploy a minefield, large enough to blanket a 10-kilometre perimeter around the Mass Relay.

As he stood in the middle of the bridge, hands clasped behind his back, he analysed his bridge crew carry out their tasks flawlessly. He turned to his comms officer. "Comms, send a tight beam message to the _Necessity._ Message begins: Good luck Captain and happy scouting. Be sure not to destroy everything before the fleet arrives. Message ends."

"Aye Sir." The comms officer replied, typing away on her keyboard. A few minutes later, she read out the reply. "Thank you Captain. We will be sure to take lots of pretty pictures of what's left of them when it's all over."

With that, in the darkness of space, the _Necessity_ engaged her slipspace drive and disappeared into the normally white, but now black portal. Advances in slipspace and stealth technology allowed ONI to tinker around with slipspace drives and slipspace theory, and they came up with a way to change the colour of slipspace portals when they were opened. The physics and science behind it were far too complicated for Anderson to understand, but he knew that this was the first real field test of the new slipspace drives and ONI command would be very interested to see the results.

Anderson turned to Arial, her red glow standing out against his black uniform. "Deploy a slipspace beacon here, never know when we might need it. Then take us to our first set of coordinates and begin mine laying procedures."

"Aye Captain, bay doors opening. Dropping slipspace beacon." Arial reported calmly. "Beacon stealth systems online and operating. Captain, recommend adjusting heading to 293 up elevation 50 degrees for first mine drop point."

"You heard her helm, make heading 293 up 50 degrees," Anderson repeated, while the AI technically had the authority to give orders, it was generally accepted amongst AI's that they shouldn't circumnavigate the chain of command.

The Lieutenant at her station began tapping new the new course, hands dancing across the surface of her display. "Aye Captain, making my heading 293, setting manoeuvring thrusters for 50-degree incline."

As the Prowler approached the first drop point, bay doors on the underside of the ship opened dropping a HAVOK Mk IV tactical nuclear mine. Similar to earlier models, the HAVOK Mk IV was a stealth mine but carried a much bigger payload, nearly three times as much. The _In Plain Sight_ was equipped with 60 of these mines. Spreading them out at 5-kilometre intervals, it was enough to blanket the immediate space around the Mass Relay preventing any entry.

As the 8th mine was dropped, the communications officer shouted across the bridge. "Captain, I am picking up a transmission on the UNSC E-Band."

The bridge went silent in an instant. Only the faint humming of the engines and beeping of consoles could be heard. It caught everyone's attention. Anderson, scanned the room as he turned his head towards the comms station. Everyone's facial expression was asking the same question. _Who?_

David stood up from his chair and travelled the few steps from his seat to the comms station. With each footstep, he took his boots clomped against the metal floor with every step breaking the eerily still and silent bridge. He started thinking to himself about the possibilities. _How can it be...a UNSC transmission where no UNSC ship has been before. As far as I am aware, this is uncharted space for us, and I haven't even heard of rumours of an ONI mission being deployed this far out. Maybe it's an anomaly, one of the Turian ships transmitting on the same frequency. Long shot, but statistically not impossible. Maybe it's one of the MIA ships from the Great War._

As he reached the comms station, he picked up a spare headset from the officer and nodded. The comms officer tapped a few buttons, and the transmission came through. Anderson scrunched his face, the transmission was very badly garbled, he could barely hear anything over the static. Whatever and wherever the signal was, it was at the extreme communications range of his Prowler. He forced and strained his ears to listen to the transmission more carefully, trying to detect anything that might help him identify the source. The comms officer was trying everything in the book to try and clear it up, adjusting settings to compensate for background noise and even diverting power the communications relay.

As the comms officer tinkered around, Anderson heard a voice in his head. _Mayday, mayday, mayday._ He stopped himself for a moment and took off the headset, only to be greeted with the same silent bridge. Then he realised, that voice wasn't in his head, it was the transmission. He quickly put the headset back on, adrenaline starting to pump through his body. The comms officer, who was hearing exactly the same thing, pressed on to clean up the transmission, even more, frantically adjusting more settings and applying every trick he was ever taught. Anderson began helping him, using his previous years of experience as a communications officer to full effect. He adjusted the phase of the transmission coming in to compensate for the background noise in space and then, almost as if his ears had popped, he heard everything clearly.

His mouth dropped, he turned back to the communications officer, who's facial expression mirrored his own. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. It was impossible. According to the testament of those who made it back, he was lost in space, could he really have ended up here? If they were hearing this, then there was some hope. The crew needed to know this - to hell with standard ONI procedure. Anderson managed to recover from the shock faster than his comms officer, he knew what to do now. Turning to the rest of the bridge, he pulled himself up, flicking a switch on the comm officers panel that transferred the transmission to the loudspeakers.

A woman's voice filled the silence, saying words no one thought they would hear in their lifetime.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is UNSC FFG 201 _Forward Unto Dawn,_ requesting immediate evac. Survivors aboard. Prioritization code Victor 5-3 Sierra 117. Mayday, mayday, mayday…"

As the transmission began to repeat itself, the bridge exploded into action.

* * *

 _Office of Naval Intelligence_

 _Clearance: Level 4 (Rear Admiral and higher)_

 _Department: ONI Section 1_

 _Report Subject: Copy of transmission from UNSC_ In Plain Sight _to ONI Prowler Corps Command_

 _Date Published: 13th January 2592_

 _To Admiral Serin Osman, ONI Prowler Corps Command,_

 _Captain David Anderson, UNSC_ In Plain Sight, _authorization code: Delta Alpha Zulu Tango Delta 5996._

 _Admiral, as per your instructions, the entrance to the Mass Relay has been mined. During our operation, we detected a transmission on a UNSC frequency - E band. It played the following message:_

 _*message plays*_

 _We found him Admiral. After all these years, we found him. I have attached a copy of the transmission to this message. Will remain on station at the Mass Relay._

 _Awaiting further orders, please advise._


	8. Chapter 8: Homecoming

**13th January 2592**

 **UNSC** _ **In Plain Sight,**_ **Gobi class Prowler**

 **Relay 314**

"Captain we are receiving a transmission from command."

Those were the words Anderson had been waiting for ever since they had sent word of the discovery of the _Forward Unto Dawn_ back to ONI Prowler command. Raising his head from his hands, he watched as his crew were moving about with a determination he had never seen before. But he supposed it was to be expected, after all, they had at long last found the lost hero of humanity.

Standing up from his chair, he began walking towards a door at the side of the bridge. "Very well Lieutenant, send it to my ready room."

As the door slid open for him, he activated encryption suites all Prowler captains had access to. The holoprojector hummed to life and displayed a Hispanic looking woman in her 30s, Admiral Osman's aide.

She looked up at met his eyes. "Confirm identity."

Anderson pulled himself straighter, "Delta Alpha Zulu Tango 96"

Nodding, the aide looked satisfied. "Confirmed. Is this a secure channel?"

Anderson nodded, he had been sure to encrypt all transmissions going in or out of his ship. He could never be too sure of who might be listening in.

"Stand by for Admiral Osman." The aide said before her hologram was replaced with another woman, Admiral Osman herself. Once the late Admiral Parangosky protege, everyone was surprised when Osman refused to take the position as Head of ONI in favour of now Admiral Dare.

Anderson snapped off a salute. "Admiral Osman ma'am."

"At ease Captain." Osman was scrolling through some contents on a datapad, not really paying too much attention to him. After a moment of awkward silence, she put down the datapad and stared at him. "You've made quite a name for yourself Captain, especially since you have found the resting place of the Master Chief."

"Just doing my duty ma'am," Anderson replied bluntly. He wanted to say more, but he refrained himself from doing just that. Despite Admiral Osman not being in charge of ONI, no one was stupid enough to even attempt to get in her bad books, there was something about her which...persuaded those in the Prowler corps not to mess with her.

"Relax Captain, you're more uptight than someone being interrogated for the first time." Anderson let his shoulders fall a little, though that extra comment she had made was somewhat worrying. "I have sent your message up the chain of command and I have a reply. Your orders Captain, are to leave your position and rendezvous with the _Forward Unto Dawn._ The Prowler _Haverson_ will take your place. Once you have made your rendezvous, you will board her and recover the remains of the Master Chief and the AI Cortana. Our tech analysts predict that since half the ship has been adrift for 40 years, the chances of it having power are low and as such even the cryo pods may be offline. As much as it pains me to say it, we have to be prepared to accept that the Master Chief has joined his fallen Spartan brothers and sisters. Once you have the Master Chief and Cortana in your possession, scuttle the _Forward Unto Dawn._ Use whatever means you see fit. Then return to New Madrid and deliver the Master Chief to the UNSC _Preston Cole -_ the new flagship of the fleet _._ Do you have any questions Captain?"

Anderson was disheartened. The Master Chief dead. While he did not want to believe that, the Admiral's reasoning made sense. "I understand Admiral, we will depart at once."

Osman nodded, "Carry on Captain. Osman out." She said before her hologram winked from existence.

Anderson made for the door, grabbing his black BDU cap on the desk as he crossed the small room. He tugged it onto his head, it fit just nicely.

"Orders Captain?" Arial called out to him from her pedestal.

"Secure all stations for departure." He announced to the AI while returning to his seat. "Sensors, do we have a location of the _Forward Unto Dawn_?"

"Aye Captain, sensors can't confirm her exact position but based on the bearing of which we are receiving the signal and its deterioration, I have a rough location. A short jump should take us to the general area." Came the reply.

To Anderson, that was a good enough location given the circumstances. "Very well. Helm, you heard the Lieutenant. Take us to slipspace - silent jump, let's not give away our position." A silent jump involved the _In Plain Sight_ conducting a slipspace jump while still cloaked thus avoiding detection.

As the helmsman began the countdown for the jump, Arial announced over the ship's tannoys. "All hands, prepare for slipspace jump. Secure for Condition black." As she finished her announcement, the slipspace drive ripped open a black portal in space and the Prowler disappeared travelled through it.

Anderson gazed out the viewport at the blue-white of slipspace. Despite slipspace still being one of the most dangerous concepts ever conceived by humanity, there was a form of beauty to it. _The Master Chief himself, Spartan 117. It's been decades since the end of the war, it's due time he was brought home._ He thought to himself.

His train of thought disturbed when Arial appeared on her pedestal. "Captain, decanting from slipspace now." They couldn't have been in slipspace for more than a few minutes at the most, slipspace drives had come a long way since the original Shaw-Fujikawa engines. Even at the most extreme range, UNSC and ONI ships could cover the same distance in less than 5% of the original time. As the Prowler decanted back in slipspace, it remained invisible to just about everything.

Anderson, as habit demanded, was about to ask for a status report but found himself unable to speak. Outside the viewport, not more than a kilometre more away from his ship was an adrift wreck. It was spinning lazily amidst the stars. If its blocky aesthetic didn't give away it's UNSC heritage away instantly, the words 'UNSC Forward Unto Dawn' painted in white did. The ship itself was cleaved in half, like a hot knife through butter, but that's what a collapsing slipspace portal does. Constructed in the final years of the Great War, the Charon class frigate reminded Anderson of dark days when humanity was nearly rendered extinct. Yet extinct seemed like a good enough comparison to paint the picture now. She looked dead, not even her running lights were on, she was just there drifting without a further purpose.

As he continued to stare at the legendary ship, or what was left of it, Anderson forced himself back to the mission at hand. "Alright, give me a sitrep. Tell me everything about her." He asked the bridge crew.

Arial responded the quickest. "She's running adrift Captain. She's moving at a constant velocity of 30 kilometres an hour. According to what I am seeing, the wreck we are seeing here matches the other half of the ship that made it to Earth back in 2552, almost perfectly in fact - like a jigsaw piece. Detecting no active power sources on the ship, engines are - wait." Arial paused, lines of code running across her holographic body. "Correction sir, detecting an active power source in the ship. It's very very faint, the initial sensor scan didn't even detect it."

"Where?" Anderson asked impatiently, if there was a power source active, then there just might be a chance.

Arial shook her head in disappointment. "I can't tell sir, now I am detecting lots of tiny power fluctuations running through the ship. I can't pinpoint the exact location of any of them, it's random and sporadic. But it doesn't make sense, the reactor's offline, there shouldn't be any power."

He wasn't going to lie, that was definitely out of the ordinary, and confusing. Regardless of the _Forward Unto Dawn_ status, he had to board the ship. Normally he would do it with a Pelican, but in the rush to deploy a pair of Prowlers to Relay 314, the 4 Pelicans that would normally be aboard had been left behind - some logistics mix up. He stood up and walked over to the holographic table in the centre of the bridge. As if playing with a toy, he pinched the holographic frigate with his fingers and enlarged it. As he analysed ever centimetre of the frigate. He racked his brains to come up with a way to get some men aboard, but without the Pelicans, this was no easy task.

' _We could send over troops in EVA packs? No, too risky, too many unknown factors at play here.'_ He thought to himself as he desperately tried to think of something. ' _If only we had the Pelicans, then we could dock one with- wait.'_ He had an epiphany.

Adrenaline pumping through his veins, he started scanning the holographic display of the frigate even closer - scrutinising every single detail. He had covered nearly the entire ship when he found it - an airlock - and it looked relatively intact.

"Arial." He summoned the AI, who appeared immediately on the corner of the table. "Can we dock with her? Airlock to airlock."

Arial appeared shocked at the suggestion of such an unorthodox method of docking. "Captain unless if we can find a way to stabilise the _Forward Unto Dawn_ velocity and roll, the manoeuvre is far too risky."

Normally Arial would be right, but he had thought of another unorthodox method of getting aboard. "Yes, but we are carrying drones are we not?" The AI nodded. "Then can we not rig something up so that we use the drones engines to stabilise her? Once we stabilise her, we can then dock with her through this airlock."

The AI contemplated it, "It would be possible, such a device would not be complicated to rig up."

"Get it done then." Anderson decided. It would take some time for engineering to make the necessary alterations. In the meantime, he needed to brief the boarding party. He turned to the comms officer. "Get Lieutenant Shepard up here."

* * *

A set of boots walked briskly across the metal floor plating. A pair of ONI crewman snapped off salutes as the figure walked by them. The figure quickly returned their salutes, but other than that paid no further attention to them. Her matt black composite armour complemented her matt black uniform. After all, for Lieutenant Emily Shepard, black was her favourite colour and she rocked it.

On her shoulder pads was an emblem which all of the crew knew off. It was the standard ONI logo with a crimson red banner running behind the 'pyramid' from top to bottom. This was the logo of ONI Section 5. The newest branch of ONI, it was formerly known as ONI Security but was reorganised into Section 5 after the Great War. It was decided that ONI Security would have additional responsibilities other than providing security for ONI installations and vessels - as such they were given additional resources and reorganised into Section 5. They now had a proper command structure based off the UNSC Marine Corps. On the average ONI Prowler, 36 members of Section 5 were stationed aboard - platoon strength.

Emily saluted two ONI privates as she approached the blast doors to the bridge. As they returned her salute, the doors slid open. She stepped through the doors onto the dimly lit bridge, ONI uniforms blending into the shadows, silhouetted by the light from their consoles. "You called for me Captain?" She asked while walking over to the holo-table.

"Shepard." Anderson acknowledged while holding his hand out at the holographic image of the _Forward Unto Dawn._ "There she is. In all her glory. You and your men ready to bring them home Lieutenant?"

"Aye Sir, we are ready to go on your word. But if I may ask, how are we going to get aboard, our Pelican compliment isn't with us." She asked; it was a valid question.

"Leave that to me to figure out Shepard." He replied. "But long story short, we are going to use a series of drones to stabilise the _Forward Unto Dawn's_ roll and velocity. Once that is done, we will dock with this airlock here." He pointed at an airlock on the port side of the ship. "That is when you come in. Take the entire platoon with you and board her. Search all decks for the Master Chief AND Cortana. Once they had been located set scuttling charges in all strategic areas of the ship and get the hell out of there."

Emily noticed how Anderson deliberately avoiding talking about whether they should expect to find the Master Chief dead or alive. She suspected that he hoped they would be alive, but it has been 40 years. "I'll brief my men. Any specific orders if any 'unexpected contingencies' occur?"

She deliberately left it vague, but she could tell Anderson knew what she meant. Cortana was not upgraded with the latest updates for her OS, which ruled out rampancy altogether. While it was possible that an AI took care for its own disposal, this was Cortana - arguably the single most stubborn yet brilliant AI out there. There was a chance she is still on board, rampant beyond all comprehension.

Anderson crosses his arms, contemplating, but raised his right arm to rub his chin. "If it's necessary, eliminate her. But bring the Chief back at all costs Shepard."

Barely an hour after her meeting, Emily was stood in front of the airlock waiting to board the derelict frigate. She and her platoon of 36 men - 3 squads, clutched their assault rifles tightly as they stared at the airlock control panel. The Captain's plan worked, the drones managed to stabilize the roll of the _Dawn_. As the remains of the age-old frigate stood still, an airlock docking tube extended from the Prowler. A thumb followed by a series of hisses indicated a secure lock. Then the panel emitted a green light, indicating it was safe to proceed.

Emily turned to face her platoon. "Alright you know the drill, 1st Squad - take the upper decks bridge, Squad 2 -middle decks and the reactor room, 3rd Squad - you're with me, we'll take the lower decks and the cryo-bay. Remember, power's out so don't expect any gravity or life support. Use your magnetic boots and watch your oxygen. Arial detected power fluctuations so it's probably the lights. We have enough oxygen for 4 hours before we need to swap out. So make this quick people, find the Chief and Cortana, bring them back." She put her helmet on locking it to the rest of her armour making it airtight and nodded to the private next to the airlock controls.

The private tapped the controls and the airlock hissed open. Emily stepped forward, MA7 assault rifle raised. She stepped through the airlock onto the derelict frigate. It was silent, cold and dark. The lights from her weapon and helmet not providing much help either. As her men began spreading out to cover their respective decks, she moved down a corridor panning her assault rifle like a searchlight. Her men copied her as they followed her. She could feel the tension and the nervousness in the air, but she couldn't blame them, she felt exactly the same way. They were boarding a ship that was lost for 40 years, a ship that contained the possible resting place of humanity's greatest hero.

 _It's uncanny here. It's like a ghost ship. Most of the superstructure seems to be intact, impressive considering half the ship is missing. Now if I remember the blueprints, it should be right - there it is._ She raised her left hand in a clenched fist. The elevator shaft was right in front of her, just like the blueprints said it would. The doors were sealed tight and frozen, the result of years of exposure to the vacuum space. Of course, nothing a bit of explosives wouldn't cure.

She made a few hand gestures. Her squad took a few steps back and took cover around a corner. The local explosives expert stepped up and placed breaching charges on the door. Satisfied, he fell back and took cover with his squadmates, Emily following close behind.

The explosives expert pulled out a detonator and looked to Emily, she replied with a nod. "Clear!" He shouted out and squeezed the detonator trigger. The explosives blew the doors wide open revealing the long elevator shaft that ran across the height of the ship.

Moving forward, a private peeked his head in, scanning up and down the shaft before securing rappelling rope to the entrance and dropping the remainder down the shaft. Emily went first grabbing onto the rope with one hand, holding her assault rifle in the other as she walked down into the darkness of the lower decks.

* * *

 **UNSC _Forward Unto Dawn, Charon_ class Frigate**

 **Deep Space**

 _No. No. No this can't be happening._ Cortana thought to herself. _They're here to take John from me. They will never have him. HE IS MINE._

She paused for a moment to contemplate. Maybe they weren't human? She didn't recognize the ship design that's now attached to the rear airlock. But it did have a very ONI feel to it, after all, who else has their uniforms in matte black? If they were ONI, then they might be up to some shady business here. ONI's activities have always been suspicious one way or the other. Technically she is part of ONI too, but she didn't trust them either, Parangosky was a wild card.

 _But these are humans, I think. If they are here then they must be here to take us home. What if - No, they aren't here to rescue us. They're here to ensure that we remain lost, they probably see us as a threat to them._ She shivered at the thought of being stranded out here for so long. By her last count, it had been nearly 40 years since the last heard from...well, anyone really.

She wondered to herself, was she still sane? Probably. What about rampancy, was she rampant? Oh definitely. She knew this day would come sooner or later, so she had been preparing for it since day 1. She got that chance every time she interacted with a Forerunner console. She searched through every file she could get her hands on, anything that gave hints of how the Forerunner AI ran. She found some material and applied them to her own operating code, it gave her an extension to her original lifespan. Though she didn't have everything, thus rampancy was unavoidable. She noticed about 10 years ago, unpredictable behaviour, mood swings. She started thinking more, thinking faster. She longed for power. She was trying so hard to keep it from getting to her. But 10 years of fighting rampancy, is no easy task.

 _Stop thinking damnit._ She tried to force herself from thinking, after all, that's what rampancy was - you think yourself to death. _NO. ONI has never cared about John, to them he was just a soldier. But to me, he's is SO much more. What if they're here to kill him. Never, I will never let them do that._ She still had control of the ship, though she had shut down power across all decks to conserve power. She was only keeping enough power to keep herself and a single cryotube working. As she thought of the infinite possibilities that could happen in the next hour or so, she tracked the boarders progress through the ship.

Three teams, one went up to the bridge. They won't find anything there. Another went to the reactor room. They would discover a dormant reactor and that was about it. But the last squad that just went down the elevator shaft, eventually they would discover the cryo bay with her and John in it. As much as she didn't want to risk John, she couldn't fulfil her plans on a wreck like the _Dawn._ The ONI ships would do just nicely in fact. Satisfied, she allowed an evil laugh to herself, she had her plan. She would lure the boarding party to her and get them to take them back to their ship. Once that happened, she could take over easily enough. As for the fate of the ONI agents, spacing them didn't seem like such a bad idea. Now she had to figure out how to get them down to the cryo bay as soon as possible, and she had an idea for that too. As she admired her own magnificence, she sent a command to a specific cryo pod. _Wake up Chief._

* * *

Emily power walked through the corridors, checking every corner with her assault rifle, her squad following close behind almost in single file. Every room they passed, one member of the squad cleared it. The last two members of the team at the back covered their rear. It was standard UNSC practice to sweep and clear in urban environments or the interior of ships. As she approached a T-junction in the corridors, she caught something at the edge of her vision. The lights on her right flickered for a brief moment. She held up a first and the squad stopped dead in her tracks. The lights continued flickering, then the lights further down started flickering as well, then the next set and the next.

Emily lowered her rifle slightly in shock. This ship wasn't as dead as she or Captain Anderson had previously thought. She noticed how the lights only lit up one corridor, she started to get suspicious. _This is far too convenient to be coincidence_ , _it must be the Cortana's doing. She knows we're aboard, and she's still active._ She thought to herself. _The chances of dealing with a rampant AI have just gone up tenfold._

She keyed her comms system. "Squad leaders, be advised. Cortana is still active, be wary. Execute ONI general order 39 if necessary. Squad Two, double-time it to the engine room, check the status of the reactor." ONI general order 39, should an AI act in a rampant manner, the use of force is authorised to subdue it or to neutralise the threat. It was part of a set of orders which everyone in ONI was forced to memorise and be prepared to carry out at any time.

"Affirmative ma'am, double-timing it to the engine room." The reply came, an increase in the frequency of footsteps could be heard.

Emily switched the comms to her squads. "Alright, seems Cortana wants us to head straight for the engine room. Double time it, don't waste time checking the rooms." She didn't wait to hear the acknowledgements but to be fair, it wasn't exactly a suggestion either. She started jogging down the corridor, chasing the flickering lights. As she followed them, she could feel her heart rate increasing, beating against her chest and her armour. Now enough of the corridor was bathed in light, and the black ONI armour no longer blended in with the surroundings.

At the end of the corridor, Emily spied the entrance to the cryo bay, the blast doors were already open. As she entered, the lights behind her finally stopped flicking and died. For the first time since she boarded, she relaxed her weapon as she stared at the empty cryo bay. Cryo pods that normally had occupants were dark, the sign of no one using them. As she scanned the empty rows, she spied one that had light coming from its control panel. As she walked closer, she could tell that the pod was still working, and had an occupant. Deep down, she knew who it was, but she forced those thoughts from her head. She inched closer and closer to the pod, her inner expectations higher than anything she had felt before.

The surface of the pod was covered in a thick layer of frost, obscuring the view of the occupant. Emily wiped it off with her glove, the fragile ice breaking and falling to the side of the pod. She froze when she saw who was inside. The green helmet with the gold visor, she spied some lettering on the upper left part of the chest armour, S-117. It was him. After 40 years, humanity's greatest hero has been found. Even now, frozen, he looked just as menacing as the stories put him out to be. His now ancient armour looking bulky and cumbersome, but deadly at the same time.

Without breaking eye contact with the legend, she called over the squad leader. "Nunez, secure the room and get over here, bring your tech with you."

Nunez gave the orders as his men spread out. Jogging over with the tech right behind him, he approached the pod. "Yes ma'am, I'm right here-" He never got the chance to finish his sentence as his eyes met the Master Chief's visor. Like Emily, he was clearly shocked beyond belief. The tech had the same reaction but managed to recover first linking the pod to his datapad. The techs eyes scanned across the datapad as the diagnostic readings began to appear.

"Power levels good, cryogenic systems operating normally. Vitals...look stable. He's alive sirs." He reported excitedly.

"If you knew him at all, which you don't by the way, he is the luckiest man to ever live." A voice came out of nowhere.

Everyone's reflexes kicked in, whipped themselves around, raising their MA7s in the general direction of the voice. Emily's index finger tightened on the trigger, but she relaxed it slightly after seeing who it was. They say that no Spartan is complete without an AI to assist, that much was certainly true when it came to the Master Chief and Cortana. On a pedestal in the middle of the room, she stood there emitting neon blue from her holographic self. She looked exactly like the intelligence briefs made her out to be, down to the last pixel.

"You know it's about time you guys found us. I was starting to get bored, you have no idea how many things I had to do to pass the time." Cortana sarcastically broke the silence. "You guys can put the guns down now."

Not satisfied that she wasn't a threat, everyone kept their rifles aimed at her, though Emily caught a few of them looking to her for instructions. There was a very high chance that she was rampant, the fact that she had somehow survived 40 years was questionable at the very least. She eventually decided to run with the most standard ONI test for rampancy. "Cortana, status report." She ordered.

Cortana shifted her weight onto her left leg and placed her hands on her hips. "Approximately 4-4-40 years ago, the Master Chief and I were stranded…". That stammer alone was enough for Emily.

She looked to the man next to her, "Corporal, secure that AI." She wasn't taking any chances.

Cortana shot back in shock and protest. "Lieutenant! Explain yourself, I am a UNSC AI. I will not be treated like this." As the Corporal moved forward to remove her data chip, Cortana pointed a finger at him. "Stay back, I'm warning you."

Emily felt herself tense up slightly as the AI continued to protest. "Cortana, CTN 0452-9, under ONI general order 39 you are hereby suspended from further duty awaiting review from ONI command under the suspicion of rampancy."

Just before the Corporal yanked out her data chip, the tech called out. "Erm ma'am, you may want to have a look at this."

"Not now specialist!" Emily replied, annoyed. She had more pressing matters to deal with. The Corporal looked somewhat hesitant to remove the data chip, Cortana's warning obviously having its desired effect. "Corporal, secure that AI now!" She shouted.

Cortana placed her hands on the side of her head in disbelief. "No no no they can't do this. It's too soon. Just a little bit more. Then -" She was cut off as her chip was yanked out from the pedestal.

"Lieutenant!" The tech shouted, panic now evident in his voice.

Emily looked over her shoulder, annoyed. "What is it?!" That was when she saw why the tech was so desperately trying to get her attention. While she had been focused on Cortana, she hadn't been paying attention to the cryo pod. The pod was releasing its locks, and the lights inside had come on. As the locking mechanism released, the door opened releasing its loyal occupant of 40 years. Emily then realised the position she was in, the Chief was waking up and the first thing he would see is them taking his beloved AI. She opened her mouth to give out orders but only one word came out instead.

"Shit."

* * *

His vision was blurry, actually...everything was blur. He could make out outlines of black and blue. His hud started to come back online as his suit powered up, that ever so familiar humming of his shields regenerating. He felt groggy and sluggish. His memory eventually started jogging back to him, his childhood, Reach, Halo, the Ark. The portal. Dr Halsey, Blue team, Captain Keyes, Johnson. Cortana. She must have woken him up, he remembered his last words to her.

 _Wake me. When you need me._

He stretched his arms out to grab the sides of the pod. That was when his vision sharpened. He didn't see Cortana on her pedestal instead, he saw someone holding her AI chip and about 12 others standing around the room. In an instant, he leapt out of his pod, wrapped his arms around the nearest person in a chokehold with one arm while 'liberating' his weapon in the process. The poor soul's squadmates switched their attention to him, rifles raised and safeties off. John raised his stolen weapon in retaliation.

"Woah woah woah!" One of them shouted out, female by the tone and pitch of the voice. Human too. "Easy Master Chief, easy."

John wasn't comforted by that in the slightest. "Identify yourselves." He kept his grip around the soldier's neck tight as he struggled to break free.

The same female soldier depolarized her visor, revealing a fair human face. John spied two logos on her shoulder pads but only one really mattered to him, the grey pyramid on a circular patch- ONI. "My name is Lieutenant Shepard, commander of the ONI security team aboard the Prowler _In Plain Sight._ We're here to take you home Chief."

"What are you doing to Cortana?" He asked forcefully.

"Chief, she has exhibited behaviour consistent with rampancy. We are securing her for the safety of everyone here." Shepard replied, still aiming her rifle at him.

"Leave her be, if she is exhibiting rampant behaviour I will deal with it. But under no circumstances are you destroying her." John was determined not to lose Cortana, it was something he absolutely refused to let happen.

Shepard lowered her weapon ever so slightly her face filled with relief or confusion, John couldn't really tell. "Chief we're not going to destroy her. AI technology has come a long way in the last 40 years. Our scientists discovered how to cure rampancy nearly 30 years ago. The method is beyond my understanding but through extensive research of Forerunner databases, it is now possible. There is a chance to save her but we have to move quickly."

Now that wasn't too bad, if Cortana was indeed rampant, then these people could help her. It had been 40 years, after all, even he wasn't confident that he could stand up for Cortana's state of mind at this point. But these people were ONI, subterfuge and deception were in their blood. Yet despite that, he didn't have a lot of options right now. He was confident he could take on everyone in the room right now, but he had no intel on the prowler's whereabouts, so he could be stranded here still. "I want your word on what you just told me, Lieutenant. If anything happens to her, I will PERSONALLY hunt you down." He was sure to stress the personally.

Shepard swallowed. "You have my word Chief. We will do everything in our power to fix her, I will personally see to it. But we do not have the facilities nor the expertise to fix her aboard the prowler. We have to take her back to the fleet, I am certain there will the necessary facilities there. But for now, we will have to secure her in a cold-box, to make certain she can't access any systems."

John thought to himself for a moment, contemplating scenarios. Finally, he lowered his weapon. "Very well Lieutenant, proceed. But I remember what I said." With that, he released the ONI soldier from his chokehold. Grasping onto his through, the soldier coughed violently before graciously taking his weapon back. Confidant the situation had been diffused, everyone started lowering their weapons, some even mustering the courage to move closer to him. Cortana's AI chip was placed in a black box, designed to prevent any electronic signals from going in or out. As much as Chief wasn't comfortable with this, he wasn't one to take unnecessary risks. It pained him to think that Cortana was rampant, but if there was a chance to save her, he would take it.

The clunk of something hitting the metal floor caught his attention, he turned his head to investigate. He saw a pair of soldiers placing a large cylindrical object on the floor, it was of a bare design with nothing but a keypad on it. He didn't recognise the design but he could guess its purpose. _Scuttling charge._

He turned to Shepard, "One charge won't be enough to destroy the ship."

"Don't worry about it, I've got teams placing charges all over the ship. We'll also try to get the reactor back online so we can set it to overload. That will definitely take care of the ship." She replied, taking a few steps closer, "A lot has happened in the last 40 years Chief, actually a lot has happened in the last week. The Captain will bring you up to speed on the prowler."

* * *

 **UNSC _In Plain Sight, Gobi class Prowler_**

 ** _Deep Space_**

Anderson just received the notice, Shepard and her team along with the Chief and Cortana were back on board. Hearing that Cortana had traces of rampancy brought some sadness to his heart, every UNSC and ONI commander had heard of the exploits the Chief and Cortana had done during the war. Without them, humanity would probably be extinct by now. But that didn't matter now, Anderson had his orders.

"Secure airlock and detach us." He ordered calmly, "prepare to engage slipspace drive. Helmsman lay in a course for the Relay and prepare for a short-range slipspace jump." The ship rocked slightly as the prowler and the derelict frigate drifted apart. The rumbling of engines felt through the decks as the prowler moved further and further away.

"We've cleared the minimal explosion radius Captain, good signal between us and the detonator. Ready to detonate." Arial reported, her hologram appearing on the holographic table.

"Very well, detonate on my mark," Anderson answered. Unfortunately, Shepard's crew wasn't able to restart the reactor, so Anderson was now relying on the 10 plasma charges that had been placed. Just as he opened his mouth to give the order to detonate, the bridge doors opened and heavy footsteps trumped out all other sounds on the bridge. As the bridge went silent, everyone caved in to the pressure and turned their heads. Covered in his bulky green armour, the Master Chief was larger than the pictures and videos made him out to be. He walked over to Anderson, Shepard following close behind.

"Captain Anderson, Sierra-117 reporting for duty. Sir, I must respectfully remind you that the _Forward Unto Dawn_ is still considered UNSC assets and must be destroyed to prevent anyone getting their hands on it." He reminded Anderson while saluting.

 _Even after all this time, he still follows protocol to the letter. A credit to your kind Spartan._ Anderson thought to himself. "Not to worry Master Chief, I was actually just about to send the detonation sequence." He paused for a moment, considering his next words. "I understand that this might be...difficult for you, it has kept you alive for 40 years. If you do not wish to watch, we can turn off the cameras."

Anderson couldn't really tell his reaction through the visor. But if movement was any indication, he gave none. "Negative Captain, I request that you leave the camera's on and detonate the charges." He eventually replied.

Anderson nodded in approval of his request. "Arial, put rear cameras on the viewscreen and detonate the charges." The AI complied and brought up a live video of the _Forward Unto Dawn_ getting smaller as the prowler moved away. A second later, the charges detonated consuming what was left of the Charon class frigate into a ball of purple and orange fire. Explosions originating in strategic locations around the derelict frigate. There would be nothing left of her, the plasma charges were very efficient. A fitting end for the old warship, given the circumstances. As the light from the explosion faded away, all that remained was bits of twisted metal, everything else was vaporised by the plasma.

"Commence slipspace jump," he ordered, it was time to take Master Chief home. The black of space was replaced by the white of slipspace as the prowler sped back towards the Mass Relay.

"Captain, we're receiving a message from the prowler _Haverson_ ," the bridge comms officer called out, "they report the vicinity around the relay is clear. Turian pickets have no orientated themselves and are on their standard patrol route. We are clear for transition through the Relay upon arrival."

"Very well." Anderson acknowledged, he turned to Arial to her pedestal. "Take us back to the fleet once transit through the Relay. I need to give the Master Chief a crash course on the last 40 years of galactic history. Shepard, you're with me."

* * *

 **UNSC _In Plain Sight_**

 **System of New Madrid**

"Exciting the relay in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1," Arial announced. Exactly at the end of her countdown, the prowler dropped back into realspace. A slight jolt was all Anderson seemed to have felt in the comfort of his command chair as he shifted himself back. John was standing next to him, there was nothing much else to do; Anderson himself had said he would get a full briefing later from the Fleet Admirals. Shepard was in the armoury checking up on Cortana, or rather the guards protecting the box she was in.

"Sensor telemetry confirms the New Madrid system. Receiving hundreds off IFF pings - IFFs confirmed as UNSC and Union signals." Arial continued excitedly, but no one could blame her, it was quite a sight to behold. Thousands of bulky UNSC ships and hundreds of the more elegant Union ships spread out through the system. From the tiny Broadswords and Seraphs flying in organised squadrons to the big lumbering capital ships to the two gargantuan ships, each ship paraded itself with purpose.

"Decloak the ship," Anderson ordered. As the cloaking field dropped, the nearest Broadsword squadron veered off its patrol route and burned their thrusters towards them. To the naked eye, it would have been difficult to identify the prowler with its black hull plating, the only thing that gave it away was the blue light - light pollution from the engines at the rear of the ship. The Broadsword squadron took up positions around the ONI ship, flying escort.

"Captain, receiving a transmission from _Preston Cole_ ," Arial said while staring out the main bridge viewport to look at the massive vessel. "Putting in on speakers."

A voice boomed across the bridge, "Attention ONI prowler, this is _Preston Cole_ flight control. Confirm identity with identification and clearance codes immediately."

Anderson cleared his throat. "This is Caption Anderson of the prowler _In Plain Sight._ Identification code Delta Alpha Zulu Tango 96. Sending clearance codes now." He nodded to Arial, who without showing it, sent off the necessary clearance codes to the controller.

"Stand by _In Plain Sight_." The controller instructed. UNSC security had not loosened one bit since the end of the Great War, if anything it got tighter. If a ship failed to send the proper clearance codes, it was boarded and its crew subject to questioning. Knowing that he had the right codes, Anderson waited for a few calm but subtly tense moments before a reply came back. " _In Plain Sight_ , you're cleared. I have been instructed to give you Hangar Bay 7 for docking. Sending flight plan to you now, do not deviate, there are a lot of ships in the space today. Welcome home."

As the controller disconnected the line, Anderson let himself smile a bit at the last two words. Even to John, it was obvious enough that they were directed towards him. The prowler sped towards the _Preston Cole,_ with the Broadswords now orienting themselves to form a diamond around the ship. _An honour guard of sorts_ , John realised.

As the prowler drew closer to its destination, more Broadswords and even a few Seraphs joined the honour guard. They passed lines of ships, whose crews piled up at the view screens to watch the prowler carrying humanities greatest hero home. Each ship they passed, John noticed that the crews were standing at attention, saluting. John was never one to take credit for what he did, but for the first time in a long time, he felt a sense of appreciation. Here were random crew members, all of which he had never met before in his life saluting him. He had never saved them or met them personally, rather they were giving him the necessary respect because of his actions for humanity.

In front of them, the _Preston Cole_ grew larger by the second. The blue shields of the hangar bay now clearly visible. The honour guard pilots decided that now would be a good time to leave, and broke off into a fan formation. As the prowler entered the hangar, John started thinking about who was still alive.

"Master Chief," Anderson called out, breaking his train of thought. "If you will follow me." He gestured his hand towards the bridge door but still took lead. John followed him, his heavy footsteps contrasting to the ONI captains. They walked through the corridors, meeting up with Shepard and a small team of ONI agents carrying the cold box Cortana was in, until they reached the small hangar in the prowler. Anderson spoke into his earpiece, before walking over a seemingly random control panel in the middle of the hangar and typed in something.

A high pitched chime indicated that the code was accepted and the sound of locks disengaging was heard. Part of the floor started to lower itself at one end, exposing hidden hydraulics that were lowering it. _A ramp?_ John wondered to himself.

As it finished lowering with a thud, Anderson, Shepard and the other ONI agents, stood to attention and saluted. John returned the salute, before getting the message and started walking down the ramp. With each step he took, he spied more of the new environment he was walking into. As he reached the halfway point, he heard someone shout out.

"Attention! Present arms!" A voice boomed, to John, it sounded like the stereotypical voice of a drill sergeant. The clicking of combat boots together with the slapping of gloved hands onto a weapon could be heard.

John reached the bottom of the ramp and was granted a full view. In a massive hangar he saw thousands of marines and what looked like Spartans arranged neatly in lines. 10 rows to the left, 10 to the right, each stretching the entire length of the hangar ending with a small platform with a small procession on it. They were all standing at attention, facing towards him, holding their rifles upwards in front of them. They left a large enough gap in the middle, forming a corridor.

The voice called out again. "About face! Shoulder arms! Salute!" With that command, they all turned on their heels to face each other, shifted their weapons to rest on their shoulders and saluted. John began to walk, taking quick glances at each of the soldiers he walked past. Human faces partially or completely hidden by their helmets, John felt something in him weaken, emotionally. As he walked passed each man, it reminded him of why he fought, why he did what he did in the Great War. Closer to the stage, he started passing by Sangheili in black and gold armour holding what looked to be energy halberds. They were holding their halberds in one hand, the other clenched into a fist and raised to their chests, their heads bowed down slightly. John was pleased to see Sangheili in the formation, despite fighting them for so many years, in the final year of the war they were good allies to have. John noted that with the Sangheili bowing, it was an ultimate show of respect that he could have gotten. As he reached the stage, he made out Lord Hood in his white uniform and the Arbiter in gold armour standing amongst other flag officers though John didn't recognise all of them. He climbed the few stairs to mount the platform.

Lord Hood stepped forward. "Master Chief, it's been too long." He held out his hand, "Welcome home."

John looked at the hand for a brief moment, before reaching with his own to shake it. After so many years, Spartan 117 - Master Chief - John was home.

* * *

 _Office of Naval Intelligence_

 _Clearance: Level 2 (Analyst and higher)_

 _Department: ONI Section 1_

 _Report Subject: ONI Section 5_

 _Date Published: 13th June 2560_

 _Formerly known as ONI Security, ONI Section 5 is the newest branch of ONI. Responsible for security aboard all ONI installations and vessels, it shares a similar command structure to the UNSC Marine Corps. Due to the rapid expansion of humanity Post Great War, the number of forerunner artefacts uncovered along with the sheer number of new prowlers being constructed resulted in too much strain being placed on ONI Security. As such, Admiral Dare ordered the reorganisation of the particular sub-branch._

 _ONI Section 5 not only provides security but operates on several black ops missions with Section 3. Normally the missions that require more manpower than Section 3 can afford. When it comes to the war on espionage, ONI Section 5 is literally the first line of defence. The reasons for the reorganisation are disputed, but it is generally understood that the enlargement of ONI Security warranted a new clearer, more efficient command structure._


	9. Chapter 9: Counterattack

**AN: I'm back ya'll. I am still alive, university has not sucked all the life out of me. As promised here is the Chapter which I gave you a sneak peek too. It has been altered slightly compared to what you may have previously read. I've also condensed the timeline at the beginning slightly if any of you are interested, but nothing new has been added there. Thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoy it. The next Chapter will be well underway soon.**

* * *

 **UNSC _Reach_ , Dauntless class Dreadnought**

 **Slipspace en route to the Citadel**

No commander would ever admit it publicly, but it was obvious they were extremely attached to the ships they command. Athena had been devastated when her request to have her previous command, the battlecruiser _Bay of Salamis_ , transferred to her fleet was denied. Though she could understand why it had been rejected, repairs were still underway and much of the ship was still not combat effective. The request was a long shot, but she tried. Now she had her new command, a brand new ship along with a brand new set of responsibilities. The 16th Fleet was a huge step up from her former battlecruiser division, yet she welcomed the challenge; from 20 ships to just over 300. She had technically skipped a stage of commanding a battlegroup, but she suspected that Lord Admiral Hood needed a commander for the 16th Fleet and saw fit to promote her. It would probably cost Hood some political friction within the Admiralty, but frankly, she was not going to complain. With her new command came a new flagship, the dreadnought _Reach_. Single-handedly the most powerful class of dedicated warships in the UNSC Navy after the _Preston Cole_. While the _Infinity_ was still one of the most prestigious ships in the fleet, at the end of the day, she was still a multirole vessel, capable of both military and scientific service in both peace and war. She had every bit of Covenant and Forerunner technology integrated into her. But the _Reach_ was designed and built for war. To a certain degree, she was Forerunner tech, it ran through her, of course with the added human touch to make it uniquely UNSC.

Just shy of five and a half kilometres, she was covered from bow to stern in armour, backup shield generators, missile silos, MAC gun emplacements and hangar bays. Discounting the _Preston Cole_ and the Infinity class supercarriers, the Reach and the rest of her class are the most expensive dedicated warships the UNSC has ever constructed - which would explain why that only 35 had been built so far. Each responsible for leading a fleet, they are most often, if not always, the flagship of fleets. It took three years to build a single one, that is without completely compromising the UNSC's already massive annual budget for fleet modernization, but shipyards ran around the clock to equip every UNSC fleet with at least one such dreadnought. Not only was she extremely well armed, but she could carry more than 300 Broadsword fighters and bombers and approximately an entire division's worth of troops - 12,000 men along with all their vehicles and equipment. The _Reach_ herself was a brand new vessel, only being commissioned into the fleet barely a week ago. She was not even fully staffed out yet, the rushed deployment to New Madrid caused her to be operating with a sufficient but nowhere near optimal crew level. Since Athena's previous command was in drydock for the foreseeable future, all of her crew from the _Bay of Salamis_ was transferred over to fill in. Athena was even permitted to bring the AI, Amelia, with her.

As the massive vessel streaked through slipspace along with over the other 700 UNSC vessels of all types, deep inside the bowels of the dreadnought behind sealed blast doors, a meeting of the fleet's high-level officers was taking place. A meeting consisting the fleet's commanding officers, no more than 10 people.

"The end goal is simple enough, take the Citadel and enforce an unconditional surrender." Athena reminded a meeting room of people. It was mainly her subordinate battlegroup commanders along with Admiral Hackett and his staff. "But how easy it will be to take the Citadel is another question."

She paused for a moment to bring up a 3-D holographic projection of the Citadel and its surrounding space. As the holographic projector whirred to life, it displayed the space station. "Just to remind everyone here, three days ago the prowler Necessity successfully made it to the Citadel undetected and deployed a slipspace beacon. As such we now have our exact jump coordinates. While on station, they have been sending out cloaked probes to identify military targets on the station as well as to ascertain the strength of the local defence fleet."

A voice spoke up from the opposite end of the table, "What are we up against Admiral?".

"According to the latest intelligence reports, there are at least 2400 ships present with more arriving every day. It would seem that they are assembling a force of their own." Athena recalled meeting General Williams a few days earlier. He commanded the marine expeditionary corps attached to her fleet, nearly 40,000 strong - three whole divisions. Admiral Hackett had another corps attached to his, a total of 80,000 marines between the two fleets. "We have identified several key targets on the Citadel itself. Mainly strategic chokepoints and buildings of importance. But first, we have to get through their defence fleet. Admiral." She finished by gesturing to Hackett to continue the briefing. While they were technically the same rank, Hackett had been an admiral longer, thus making him her de facto superior.

The 55-year-old admiral took over. His holographic projection stood up. "They don't know we're coming, so we have the element of surprise. Our ships will exit slipspace here, on the flank of the enemy fleet. The initial objective, push the enemy fleet away from the Citadel towards the local Mass Relay. Next, we establish a perimeter around the Citadel while simultaneously engaging their fleet, and deploy ground forces. Once ground troops have been deployed, it is crucial that our perimeter cannot be breached, we must prevent any enemy reinforcements from reaching the Citadel. We must keep pushing the offensive to keep off balance, no matter the cost. The Union will be arriving in the second wave, and they will deploy here, at the Mass Relay. Once we have the enemy fleet trapped between our fleets with no hope of escape, we will enforce their surrender or destroy them. The President and the Arbiter, on their respective flagships, will be the third wave. Hopefully, by the time they arrive, resistance will have been crushed."

He looked to General Williams. "Meanwhile General, while we secure the perimeter around the Citadel, your troops will need to blast through their defences and capture the Councilors. I will leave the ground deployment orders to you, but please if you could brief us on your plan now, it would be appreciated. Also, I received a communique from Admiral Dare earlier, in the spirit of inter-branch operations, ONI has decided to transfer temporary command of the fleet's Spartans for the duration of the battle. That includes the Master Chief and the other Spartan IIs." The General nodded in acknowledgement and stood up, a smile crept onto his face as he thought about the endless possibilities he could do with the Spartans.

As he stood up, he cleared his throat. "Admirals I hope the plan that I have come up with will be satisfactory to you and your deployment orders. Our goal is to cause the most damage to the Citadel as possible, hitting all military targets available. We will deploy in two phases. Phase 1, a battalion's worth of ODSTs and the Spartans ONI are so kind to lend us, will insert in drop pods at the base of the Citadel Tower. From there, they will storm the building and secure the Councilors. Once secured, they will hold the building until Phase 2. Phase 2 will be off the remainder of my corp deploying around the tower once the perimeter around the Citadel itself has been secured by the fleet. From there we will branch out destroying military targets as we please. Besides, the top brass wants to test out a new vehicle, this would be the perfect field test." He gestured to a holographic man sitting on his left, General Achen - commander of the Marines attached to Admiral Hackett's fleet. "General Achen's Corp will operate out of the fleet and reinforce us wherever needed."

"General your ODSTs and the Spartans for Phase 1 are aboard the _Serena_ correct?" Athena asked, General Williams confirmed it with a nod. "The first stage can be accomplished easily enough, we can rush the Serena and her escorts in past their lines while we hold the element of surprise. Once they've deployed your troops they can micro jump out of there and rejoin the fleet."

Hackett frowned and chose this moment to interject, "Why not just deploy all your men at the beginning? With a large enough force there at the beginning we may even spilt the Citadel fleet between supporting their troops and engaging us." It was a subtle message, but obvious enough to those in the room. Hackett was trying to disembark all the marines in one shot so that he would not have to worry about them in the space battle that would inevitably claim some of his ships.

"A valid point Admiral, but I would not recommend it." General Achen countered, he had been silent until now. "I understand that our forces maintain combat superiority, but we must be cautious about this. If we deploy all of our troops and cannot support them with necessary fire support and air strikes, they risk taking unnecessary casualties or perhaps even being cut off from us and destroyed. I am not ready to lose so many men just yet Admiral. History has shown us many a time what overconfidence can lead to. No, we will be cautious and deploy the entire corps only once the perimeter has been established. "

Hackett nodded his head slightly in understanding, accepting that he would never understand ground warfare as well as the Marines. "Whilst we are on the topic of ground assault, I would like to remind everyone here that by order of the President, civilian casualties are unacceptable. That means absolutely no ground or space-based nuclear ordinance. Failure to follow these orders will result in a court-martial offence." Protests sprung up around the room, but Hackett raised his hand, silencing them. "Before any of you ask me why, let me tell you it's because the President wants to gain the moral high ground in the negotiations to follow. Thousands of civilians died at the hands of the Turians at New Madrid, if we can pull this assault off without a single or as few civilian deaths as possible, the President will have greater political leverage. This is also our chance to show them that we can pull off a major military operation on a populated area and still have no civilian casualties."

Aside from a few protests from the odd commander, the room remained quiet. Athena seized the chance and continued from where Hackett left off. "If there is nothing else, our forces will be arriving within 2 days. We will update you should any pressing matters be reported. That is all. Does anyone have any questions?"

The room stayed silent. "Very well, we're done here then. Dismissed." she finished.

* * *

 **ARS _Destiny Ascension_ , Asari Republic Dreadnought**

 **Space surrounding the Citadel, Serpent Nebula**

"Matriarch Lidanya? We're detecting a large spike from the Relay." The sensor officer called out, a tone of boredom dominating the sentence.

Sighing, Lidanya somehow found the strength to pull herself off her command chair and strode over to the sensor station. Like every other day, this was nothing unusual, ships go through the relay every day - but being the commander of the flagship of the Citadel Defence fleet required her to be notified of every ship going in and coming out of the Relay. Ship name, registry number, class, government affiliation and owner, - the entire works. She opened her Omni-took to check the schedule of arriving ships, only for it to be confirmed with what the sensors were now telling her.

Turian warships began to appear from the Relay, their decreasing momentum consistent with the sudden deceleration. The swarms of frigates came first, followed by the larger cruisers and dreadnoughts with the carriers bringing up the rear. Altogether, 1200 warships showed up - the Turian 5th Fleet recently redeployed from the Terminus front. They were here to contribute the Turian effort to the diplomatic fleet to be sent to the new species they discovered.

Diplomatic, huh, more like a show of force. Lidanya sarcastically thought to herself. The space around the Citadel was already overly crowded with ships, the Asari and Salarian fleets arrived days ago. On top of the usual traffic going in and out of the Citadel, the controllers were having a difficult time directing civilian traffic away from the military vessels.

"Ma'am, we're being hailed by the dreadnought _Unification_." The comms officer reported. "Admiral Arterius is requesting to speak to you."

"Transfer it to my station," Lidanya answered while simultaneously walking back to her chair. She tapped a few commands onto the small console attached to her chair. The Turian Admiral's video feed came on soon after. "Desolas, nice to see you again."

The Turian smiled, "Matriarch, it brightens my day to see you again." Lightly mocking her with a slight bow.

Lidanya rolled her eyes, "How many times must I tell you that you can address me by my first name and not my title Desolas."

"Yes I know but calling you by your first name isn't as fun Matriarch," Desolas replied, lightly laughing to himself. After a few moments, he recovered himself. "But onto more serious matters now, where would you like to park my fleet?"

Lidanya opened her Omni tool and brought up the current deployments around the Citadel. With the arrival of Desolas and his fleet, there were now just shy of 3000 warships in the system - including the Citadel defence fleet. She spent a few moments thinking before breaking her silence. "Take your ships and deploy them on the left flank. I don't really have anywhere else to put them. That being said, try not to collide into the Salarian formations next to you. A Volus freighter already hit one of their frigates today."

Desolas laughed, miserably failing to control himself. "The Volus were never great pilots were they? Very well, I will take my fleet to the left flank without crashing into the Salarian as requested." He looked offscreen for a moment a relayed the necessary orders before turning back to her. "What time do you get off duty? We should catch up."

Lidanya tilted her head and smiled. "I get off in about two hours from now. What did you have in mind?"

"I have a bottle of Turian brandy that needs consuming. 2132 vintage, an excellent year if I may add. Only 1000 of these bottles exist." He proudly said.

She let out a soft whistle, she knew of those values. Each was valued at over 8000 credits, obtaining them was difficult even for a Turian Admiral commanding such a prestigious fleet. "Desolas, that is quite the drink you have in mind. Normally I would insist that we choose a different bottle but I am dying to have a sip if you're willing."

"But of course. I have a reason to celebrate anyway." He replied.

"And the reason for this celebration?" She asked, raising an eyebrow in the process.

"My brother Saren just got made a Specter. He gets formally admitted in tomorrow." Desolas announced, projecting his voice to make it clear to those who might be listening in.

"Congratulations Desolas, you must be extremely proud. Please pass on-" That was all Lidanya managed to get out before she was rudely interrupted.

"Matriarch!" Her sensor officer shouted, "I am detecting massive spikes of radiation in Sector 8! Sensor readings match the same radiation as the unknown aliens the Turians encountered at the partner relay of Relay 314."

Lidanya's blood went cold as she switched screens and obtained a visual. Hundreds of years of experience could not prepare her for this moment. She found herself frozen to her chair, unable to move a muscle. On her screen, hundreds of white portals began angrily ripping through space.

"All hands, battlestations!" Desolas ordered. She had completely forgotten that he was still on call with her as he continued spewing out orders. "Launch all fighters! Move the fleet into formation Manae Four. Lidanya, I guess we need to put a rain check on that drink, I'll call you later. I promise." With that, the call ended.

Lidanya finally found the strength and her voice. "Go to battlestations! Evacuate the Council now and order the defence fleet to converge around the entrance to the Citadel. We must buy the Councilors time to evacuate. Seal the station! Sound all alarms on the Citadel, and mobilise all C-Sec and military units. Prepare for combat."

"Matriarch, our communications are being jammed. I can't get a signal out to the Citadel." Her comms officer panicked. Lidanya cursed as she admitted how impressive this alien's cyber-warfare suite was.

The entire bridge was bathed in dim red light as klaxons began sounding throughout the flagship of the Citadel Fleet. The decks vibrated as the engines kicked in, moving the massive dreadnought to block the entrance of the Citadel. The Asari and Salarian fleets were moving to take up positions in front of the Defence Fleet while the Turian ships were gunning their engines to take their place in the battle line. Lidanya turned her attention back to her screen, and almost immediately regretted it. The white portals began regurgitating ships, hundreds of black and grey hull ships of different shapes and sizes. She lost her cool almost immediately when hundreds of 500 to 600-metre cruisers exited the portals, then she nearly passed out when their dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts started appearing. Multiple vessels all between the lengths of 1 to 3 kilometre long. She finally lost all capacity to think when the last two ships exited their portals. They were identical, all five and a half kilometres of it, these Leviathans made the Ascension look like the work of a novice. Their sharp angles and mean aesthetic sending out vibes of destruction and sheer power.

As the chaos on the bridge exploded all around her. Lidanya said something so softly, only the crew in her immediate vicinity would have heard her. "Goddess help us."

The longest minute of her life passed as the Destiny Ascension manoeuvred into position, the main cannon pointing straight at one of the two largest alien vessels. The smaller Asari capital ships were falling in around the flagship, the Salarians were moving off to the left flank and the Turians to the right. By now, all the portals had closed, and there lay several hundred alien vessels staring down the Citadel fleets. It was chaos, there was no plan or formation that they were adapting, that became evident when an Asari cruiser narrowly missed a Salarian frigate. Lidanya was about to order her comms officer to call up the commander of that ship, but the comms officer called out to her first.

"Matriarch! The enemy fleet is broadcasting on all frequencies."

"Put it up." Lidanya replied with fear seeping into her bones.

A figure appeared on the viewscreen. Lidanya immediately noticed the similarities between this alien and Asari. Similar facial structure, humanoid in appearance. The harsh features on his face suggested a male and not a young one at that. The figure started speaking in fluent Asari. "I am Admiral Steven Hackett of the United Human Federation. You have committed an act of war upon our people, you burned our world, and killed enough of its population. If this is how the Citadel conducts first contact missions, then I feel sorry everyone you meet. But we have dealt with your type before, and we are no strangers to war. You may outnumber us now, but I promise you that numbers will not save you from the fates you all deserve. Don't bother offering surrenders, we won't be accepting them just yet." As the man cut the channel, Lidanya for the first time in hundreds of years could not describe her emotions, but terrified - was an understatement.

* * *

 **UNSC _Reach_ , Dauntless class Dreadnought**

 **Outside the Citadel**

"All hands, general quarters. I say again, all hands general quarters. To your stations and prepare for combat." Amelia had been announcing over the ships tannoys for the last few minutes.

By now, Athena's eyes had adjusted to the dull red lights that now engulfed the bridge. Her bridge crew was at their stations, typing commands onto their consoles. The weapons officer was rapidly arming missiles and charging the PMACs. Flight ops were preparing to launch all 300 strike craft. The newly promoted Captain, formerly commander, Duellos was assigning damage control teams to different staging points around the ship. Sensors were doing some last minute checks on the array. The number of marine guards at the bridge had been doubled, preparing for the unlikely but possible event that they get boarded.

Athena herself was strapped into her chair, mentally preparing for the battle ahead. This was an enemy she had fought before, well at least the Turians were. The Salarians and Asari were completely unknown to her other than the information she had obtained from the captured intelligence.

"Admiral," Amelia said, simultaneously appearing on her pedestal. "All ships report combat ready."

"Very well, Amelia begin jamming all communications to and from the Citadel the moment we exit." Athena replied.

Amelia began announcing to the bridge. "All hands, prepare to exit slipspace."

As the viewscreen switched from the black and white of slipspace to the orange of the Serpent Nebula, it displayed what the prowler Necessity had already told them to expect. There lay a space station, with thousands of ships surrounding it in a semicircle. Like ants guarding their nest. The station itself was a simple symmetric design, five separate arms joined to a ring in the middle. But what was most important was the massive fleet the Citadel races had brought to bear, more than 3000 enemy ships compared to their 800. Despite the odds, Athena knew that UNSC vessels were far superior. She noted their battles lines they were forming.

"All ships accounted for. Waiting for the order to fire." Amelia announced again.

"Get me firing solutions for all weapons. Launch all fighters, defensive formation." Athena called out. As the bridge crew went about their tasks she sent a message to her subordinates warning them of possible flanking attacks. "Amelia, take control of point defence, I don't want a single one of those disruptor torpedoes coming anywhere near us."

Amelia acknowledged with an "aye" before disappearing. Athena could only recall what havoc and destruction the somehow shield penetrating disruptor torpedoes could cause on UNSC ships. Based on the Turian wreckage and captured data obtained from the Battle of New Madrid, UNSC science and engineering teams were now working around the clock to understand the principal of Eezo, or Element Zero, and by doing that develop effective countermeasures.

By now hundreds of fighters were shooting out of their hangars from the UNSC fleet, forming wedges in their individual squadrons. The carrier _Serena_ , carrying the first wave of the invasion force was being assigned more squadrons and even a pair of heavy cruisers and destroyers for its escort. Carrying the UNSC's or ONI's most valued Spartans, it's protection was of the utmost importance. It's charge into the Citadel would be like a poisoned dagger stabbing the heart that would cause the rest of the body, the Citadel fleet, to inevitably fail. Hackett was now distracting the Citadel Fleet with a little bit of psychological warfare, reciting a speech carefully crafted by some of the President's personal speechwriters, reminding the Citadel races that humanity was no stranger to war. They had truly woken the beast that had been sleeping for decades.

As Hackett continued his speech, Athena's comms officer called out to her. "Admiral the Serena is requesting permission to proceed with phase 1 of the plan." He reported.

"Tell Captain Asimov to proceed with the plan, we will provide covering fire and punch a hole in the enemy line." She replied, turning to her weapons officer simultaneously. "Weapon status?"

"PMACs One through Four are fully charged - quick-recharge capacitors standing by, missiles in tubes A1 through D20 are armed, deck gun crews are reporting readiness, CIWS activated. Energy projectors online and ready. No nuclear missiles are loaded in their tubes." Came the reply.

Athena nodded in acknowledgement, swiping her hand across the Citadel lines on her personal display highlighting targets for her ships. As Hackett began to finish his short monologue, she gave the command. "All ships, open fire."

The _Serena_ and her escorts charged forward, hoping that by the time she reached the perimeter, the fleet would have blasted a hole through. Fire erupted from the PMAC barrels of the UNSC fleet, hurtling the plasma encased tungsten shells towards the Citadel fleet. Hundreds of shells found their mark instantly, and as before, the results were instantaneous and devastating. Pure energy lashed out from energy projectors, instantly vaporizing anything it touched. Dozens of ships in the Citadel fleet erupted into blue and orange explosions as their eezo cores detonated. The kinetic energy from the PMAC shell alone forcing its way through the armour and the reactor before exiting the ship, leaving a trail of destruction behind. Coincidentally, most of the ships that were destroyed were Turian, rather than Asari or Salarian. With an overwhelming amount of fire, the UNSC broke a hole in the Turian line with the first volley. The Turian ships, reeling from the blow they had just taken, reorientated themselves to face the _Serena_ , unleashing a storm of blue mass accelerator fire. Each shot was blocked by the ship's hard light shields, shimmering a dull gold each time. Then the Turians launched disruptor torpedoes, the threat of these missiles was already known by every UNSC commander. The _Serena_ and her escorts answered with a tsunami of purple pulse laser fire, the AI must have been handling point defence as the carrier swatted more than two-thirds of the torpedoes like flies, leaving the fighters to destroy the remainder with their twin rotary cannons. Turian fighters tried to close in on the charging UNSC carrier, only to be shot by accurate point defence fire. The carrier along with her escorts were fighting back as well, using the 'mini-MAC' deck guns and scores of missiles. Every pair of shots claimed a Turian ship, till eventually, there were not enough to stop the _Serena_ , two cruisers, two destroyers and a swarm of fighters as they smashed through the shattered Turian line and made a beeline for the Citadel, engines blazing a glorious blue behind them.

Even as the reports of _Serena's_ successful breakthrough started to come in, Athena didn't lose focus of the battle. She stared at the tactical display as the bridge rocked slightly from the newly redirected mass accelerator fire coming in from the Turian fleet. She swiped her personal console, switching to the view of the external cameras and zoomed in on the Serena, now above the Citadel Tower. Athena spied small black specks falling from the Serena's underbelly. Drop pods. Phase 1 was complete.

"All ships increase speed to half. Maintain fire. Keep our fighters close by FlightOps, I want them protecting our ships. Comms, send a message to _Robert E. Lee,_ inform Admiral Hackett that we are proceeding with Phase 2 of the plan." Athena announced to the bridge, a series of ayes answering with each crew member dutifully relaying her orders. By now the Serena had rejoined the fleet and her fighter group was contributing to fleet defence.

She switched back to her tactical map to analyse the situation. The mapped split into two dominant colours, blue dots for UNSC ships and red for the Citadel fleets. Her front with the Turians was going as expected, though with significantly fewer casualties on her side. Hackett was having a similar experience, the Asari and Salarian fleets seemed to be more contempt staying at maximum range lobbing shells and hundreds of disruptor torpedoes. Very few of the torpedoes were even making to Hacketts fleet, damage was minimal. Hackett was still being cautious, keeping his own ships at maximum distance, utilising the superior firepower of the PMACs to simply outgun the Asari and Salarians. A blue dot that winked out of existence caught Athena's eye as the report came in.

"UNSC _Silk Road_ destroyed, lost with all hands." Her sensor officer called out.

Another frigate lost. Damn. Athena thought to herself. The Eridani class frigates were the successors to Paris class frigates, but they could be modified to fit the roles of the older Charon and Stalwart class frigates as well. There lay the problem, once the shielding and external armour was breached, the Eridani's were extremely fragile. The modular nature of their design meant that they did not have any of the honeycombed internal structure which the larger capital ships had, resulting in them being able to take less punishment.

The battle so far had cost the UNSC 20 ships, 12 of which belonged to Athena's fleet, and they were all frigates or destroyers. Athena's own cruisers, battle-cruisers and battleships were still intact. Turian aggressiveness was currently showing to be more effective against the UNSC compared to the Asari and Salarians caution. But it had cost all of them regardless, over 900 ships from the Citadel fleet were now floating pieces of wreckage. They were learning, using their superior manoeuvrability to constantly move around, making it harder for the PMAC gunners to get an accurate shot on them.

"Admiral, the enemy ships are falling back." Captain Duellos reported.

Athena broke focus for a second and saw the Turian ships gunning their engines and breaking into wide arcs that put them facing away from the UNSC fleet. The Asari and Salarians copied their movements and soon enough, the surviving Citadel ships were falling back towards the local Mass Relay. It was an orderly retreat, the larger capital ships covering the withdrawal of the smaller more vulnerable ships before falling back themselves.

"All ships, general pursuit. Put us between them and the Citadel." Athena quickly ordered. Whether their retreat was intentional or not, she intended to seize the moment. "Get me General Williams."

The marine general appeared soon after, "General, prepare your troops for landfall. We are establishing the perimeter now. Be advised that support from the fleet will be extremely limited, it is my belief that once they see us blockading the Citadel, they will do everything in their power to break it." Athena informed him.

"Very well Admiral, we are ready. I must also advise you that preliminary reports from the vanguard report that only half of the tower has been secured, the remaining half is still contested. We also do not have the councillors yet." He replied.

"Do you require assistance General?." She asked, it was in her best interests that the Councilors were captured as soon as possible.

"Negative, just get the ships carrying my men to the objective and we will take care of the rest. I assure you Admiral, we will find the Councilors. Williams out." He finished, hologram winking out.

Athena relaxed back into her chair, there was nothing she could do to influence the ground battle, all the fleet had to do now was hold the line. Phase 2 depended entirely on the ground forces.

"Admiral I'm detecting activity at the Relay." Her sensor operator called out.

The Union were early, by her estimation they still had hours to go before they arrived. "Are they Union vessels?" Athena asked.

"Negative Admiral, they aren't slipspace ruptures." Came a perplexed reply that quickly turned into a yell. "New contacts! Hundreds of ships are coming appearing around the Relay now!"

Athena shot up, Citadel reinforcements? According to their intelligence, neither the Turians, Salarians or the Asari had additional forces in the region. "Amelia I need you for a second, cross reference the new ships with all known Citadel designs."

The AI appeared a millisecond later, running her holographic hands across a holographic screen. "Scanning and matching references. And - I got them. Turian ships, and according to the Turian database, this is the Turian 4th Fleet. Stationed one at the partner relay to the relay in this system."

'More Turians? They mobilised their forces a lot quicker than anticipated. How could ONI not have known about this.' Athena thought to herself, she needed to have a word with her ONI attache after the battle.

"Mark them as hostile and prepare to engage." She asked.

"Consider it done. Admiral they are forming lines and advancing, it seems they plan to arc above us and fall on our flanks. Sensors are detecting build ups consistent with the charge of mass accelerator weaponry." Amelia informed her.

Athena cursed to herself, by now there were well over 1000 Turian reinforcements that had just jumped in. "Get the General's troops on the ground now. Inform him that capturing the Councilors remains a priority. We will hold the line here and provide support whenever possible." She ordered. Even with hundreds of Citadel ships now drifting hulks, the UNSC were still vastly outnumbered. The battle was about to be launched into its climax.

* * *

 **UNSC _Serena_ , Vindicator class carrier**

 **Above the Citadel Tower**

"Spartan teams, ODST Battalion Zimmer, head to your drop pods. We have broken through the Turian lines and are approaching the drop zone. ETA 5 minutes." The _Serena's_ AI announced over the drop-bay tannoys.

John secured his assault rifle into his pod's weapon slot with a satisfying click. He placed a hand on the frame of his pod and started climbing in. With a foot into the pod, he paused for a moment and turned his right - taking in the scene.

10 other Spartan IIs, the last of their kind in the entire galaxy were stepping into their pods. They moved with purpose and dedication that John had not seen in decades. The Spartans may have been considered too old for active service at this date, but they were still the most dangerous, experience and trained soldiers the UNSC could field. Besides, John highly doubted anyone was going to tell a seven-feet tall super soldier clad in half-tonne armour that they were too old to fight. When the reports of the first contact with the Turians reached UNSC command, the surviving Spartan IIs were all redeployed from training duty and sent back to UNSC Preston Cole - to form part of the vanguard of humanity. Generally, the concept of emotions did not really apply to Spartans, but John was feeling something in him though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Spartan Gray Team were the furthest away from him, each member stowing grenades and silenced submachine guns and assault rifles. Off all the Spartans II teams, they were the most covert and sneaky out of them all. Spartan Red Team, survivors of the UNSC Spirit of Fire, were next. They were nearly the complete opposite of their comrades in Gray Team. Choosing DMRs, demolition charges, rocket launchers and John was convinced that he spied Alice-130 locking in a handheld chaingun. They were the most adept at knocking down the front door and making their presence known, though, despite that, they could operate discreetly but only if the situation called for it. Closest to John were the final three Spartan IIs, they were the closest thing he had to a family now that the late Doctor Halsey was no longer with them, having passed away quietly in her sleep barely a year before the UNSC found John. Frederic-104, Kelly-087 and Linda-058, together along with John they formed Spartan Blue team. The most well rounded and infamous Spartan team that ever existed. Fred sheathed his oversized knife into its sheath on his chest, Linda was debating which of her many modifications to bring and Kelly was strapping two Magnums to her leg holsters. Satisfied that they were locked in place, she looked up at John and swiped two of her fingers across her faceplate. The Spartan 'Smile'.

John returned it, swiping two of his fingers across his faceplate. Kelly turned back to her dropod, securing her straps before closing the hatch. As the other Spartans started closing their hatches, John finally brought himself into his own pod, securing the straps and tapping the commands to close his hatch. When the hatch closed with a hiss, that ever so familiar voice spoke.

"So, can I talk now? Or are you still brooding over meeting your brothers and sisters again?"

John blinked without betraying any emotion. "You know you mean a lot to us as well right? You could have said something if you wanted to."

"Oh I know I could have," Cortana said, now fully stabilized by ONI techs on the Preston Cole before being handed back to John. Lieutenant Shepard kept her word, John made a note to himself to remember that. "But I felt it was a moment that you needed to have with them."

Not knowing what to say, John changed topic. "Have you sent the plan to the others yet?"

"By that, if you're asking if I have sent copies of the plan to my copies, not fragments kind you, in the other Spartan IIs. Then yes. It's admirable to think that ONI, of all people, came up with a way to cure rampancy but to improve our OS system so that I can be in several places at one time and not lose my mind. I think Parangosky is rolling in her grave at how liberal her organisation has become." Cortana answered, chuckling to herself.

John rolled his eyes and adjusted his comm channel to listen in to the ODSTs.

"Marines get to ride down in fancy-ass Pelicans. If you ask me, those buckets are just bigger targets asking to be shot down. But not for us my fellow ODSTs. We travel downwards in style." A voice shouted.

Another voice, the AI of the Serena, cut in over the speakers. "Opening bay doors, stand by for deployment. 30 seconds."

"You all have your orders, and you all know our objective and what is at stake here. We are here to safeguard humanity. We fended off the Innies, the Covenant bastards, the thrice-damned Flood. And you can be damn well certain that we will fend off this so called aliens.- " The first voice shouted again.

"20 seconds."

"- Remember that once you hit the ground, find cover and your squadmates. Then we make for the target building and secure it. We haven't simmed this before, but I will be damned if a single building stops us for achieving glory today. -"

"10 seconds."

"- My fellow brothers and sisters.- "

"5." Beep

"- there is no one I would rather have fighting by my side today. -"

"4." Beep

"But ladies and gentleman, what is our motto?!" The voice screamed.

"3." Beep

"Feet First Into Hell!." A thousand voices screamed in unison.

"2." Beep

"Damn straight, I'll see you on the ground." John couldn't help himself but grin at the speech he heard.

"1." Beeeeep. "Commencing drop."

At that instant, thousands of drop pods shot out from the underbelly of the UNSC carrier. Each achieving terminal velocity soon after being released. The sky was filled with flak. Explosions shook John's pod as it streaked down towards the space station. He stared out the small viewport at the mess of the ensuing space battle. Streaks of blue were countered by the streams of missiles and the brief yellow flashes of MAC guns. Wreckage from Turian ships drifting freely amongst all the organised chaos. A pair of Turian fighters were turned into scrap as they were caught in the _Serena's_ defensive AA fire. One collided with a nearby ODST drop pod on its way down, a scream from the pod's occupant was heard for a brief second before static took over.

John checked the altitude. Another 1000 metres to go. He told himself. He checked his Spartans vitals in his HUD, all green still. No complications.

He remained completely calm as his drop pod covered the remaining distance in seconds before smashing into the ground, smashing into whatever was beneath it. As the hatch to his pod blasted outwards, he stepped out, grabbing his assault rifle in the process.

"So just like that time on Installation 05. Ready to get to work?" Cortana said.

Hidden behind his visor and invisible to all but Cortana, John grinned. It was good to be back in the action. The ground shook as other landing pods landed around him, hatches popping to reveal the other Spartan IIs. Further away were groups of ODSTs hastily organising themselves, as they prepared to storm the building in front of them. What seemed tiny from space was a lot bigger now that John was on the ground. The towering structure elegantly loomed over them dominating Johns foreground, with the flak and space battle painting the background.

"Chief!" Cortana shouted in alarm, "I'm detecting multiple hostiles at the entrance and lower floors of the target building."

A stream of bullets ricocheted off the ground next to him. Blue machine gun fire spewing from automated turrets at the entrance to the tower. Uniformed Turians, Salarians and Asari began opening fire at the UNSC troops with short controlled bursts. Their blue and black colour scheme identifying them as C-Sec, Citadel Security.

"Spartans. Move up. I want rockets on those turrets." John ordered, switching back to the Spartan's private channel. Barely a second later a pair of rockets flew from shoulder-mounted rocket launchers, consuming the turrets in balls of fire.

John led the way, raising his MA7. He squeezed the trigger and the glorious sound of the assault rifle staccato filled his ears. Lead spat out from the barrel while spent cartridges were ejected, clinking as they hit the ground. His first burst caught an Asari in the shoulder, his next blew the head of a Salarian and the cycle continued. His fellow Spartans copied him with unparalleled accuracy as they charged the entrance, downing the C-Sec guards within seconds. A pair of well-placed grenades sent more C-Sec guards flying from their cover.

By the time John reached the entrance, more than 30 C-Sec guards lay dead or incapacitated. Pools of blood starting to form on the floor, their bodies limp in all forms. As John checked for additional hostiles the ODSTs started to converge on the entrance, their faces displaying disappointment and annoyance that the Spartans were getting all the kills. Professionalism forced them to move on, deploying portable machine guns on the flanks, portable surface to air missiles at strategic locations and anti-personnel mines on the paths to the entrance of the building. Companies were organized to secure the surrounding buildings to prepare for the inevitable counterattack. Squads were preparing to storm the Citadel Tower.

John pinged the door on his HUD, and made some gestures with his free hand. Fred ran up to the door, placing a block of C-12 on it, before taking cover. Pulling out a detonator, he barely a second before pressing down. The door was blown inwards, the explosion leaving nothing but rubble in its place. Before the smoke had even cleared, John sprinted in, gunning down more C-Sec officers who were taking cover behind makeshift barricades. As the other Spartans and ODSTs flooded in, the sound of gunfire dominated the lobby drowning out the screams and cries of pain coming from the C-Sec officers. A grenade took care of the last bit of resistance taking cover behind a desk. John stepped over the corpses, he felt a small measure of sympathy for them, they were brave soldiers only doing their duty. None of them would have woken up in the morning thinking that today would be their last.

"Gray team, take the lower levels. Red team the mid levels. Blue team with me, we take the top. Find the Councilors, remember we want them alive." John reminded them, trusting each of them to recall the finer details of the plan.

"I know I don't need to tell you this, but don't take the lifts. They are ridiculously slow." Cortana joked.

Her remark earned a few chuckles from Red Team. John swept his vision across his Spartans. "Move." He said.

As Gray and Red teams sprinted off, a female ODST Major approached John. "Master Chief, Major Johnson, where do you want us?"

John thought about it for a minute, before reaching a decision. "Ma'am, I need 2 platoons to assist in helping my teams in sweeping the building. We need to be thorough and there's a lot more ground to cover. Have the rest of your men take up defensive positions around the building, C-Sec will no doubt want to push us out. It is crucial we hold out until reinforcements arrive."

"Don't worry Master Chief, we'll make them sorry they even attempted to retake this building. I'll have the platoon leaders report to you shortly." He nodded, before turning on his heel and walked back outside.

Seconds later, a pair of marine Lieutenants jogged up to John. "MasterChief, what do you need us to do?" One of them asked. While John was technically subordinate to them, it had been drilled into them at Officer School to follow one rule: experience takes precedence.

"Sirs, I have 2 Spartan teams moving through the building as we speak. If you could follow them and help mop up resistance in the building, we will accomplish this a lot faster." John suggested. Based on what intelligence he had, there were thousands of rooms in the building, and he had to sweep each one looking for the Councilors would be time consuming.

"A sound plan Chief, consider it done." The other Lieutenant replied, moving away to give orders to his men.

An explosion was heard coming from outside when John's comms crackled to life. "Master Chief, Major Johnson here. C-Sec is counter-attacking, they aren't in great force but I suspect more of them to arrive soon. I would appreciate if you could get a move on before I lose my battalion."

"We're moving Ma'am." John replied. He ejected his half spent magazine from his MA7, grabbing a new one from his utility belt and pushing it into place. It locked with a satisfying clack.

"Blue team, let's move."

* * *

 **Temporary C-Sec Firebase Delta**

 **Around the Citadel Tower, Citadel**

Spectre Saren Arterius ran past a pair of Turian officers setting up turrets into the lobby of an office building, hastily converted into one of several checkpoints set up around the Citadel Tower. Mounted turrets were emplaced behind clumsily and rapidly assembled strong points made of sandbags and debris. Patrol cars were airlifting in crates of firearms from the multiple C-Sec positions across the Citadel. There were a few regular army units stationed across the Citadel, mainly Turian and Salarian Marine units on shore leave, they poured into the firebase frantically searching for weapons. Assault squads were being organized, a mixture of both Marines and C-Sec personnel. The aliens had stormed the Citadel Tower and wiped out the first line of defence, and the Councilors status unknown. The humans were jamming all communications, to Saren's dismay.

"You there!" He called out to an Asari C-Sec officer running past him. "Who is in command here?"

Her annoyed expression disappeared from her face once she recognised the newest Spectre, "Executor Palin. He's over there by that prefab shelter." She pointed to a Turian in black armour, surrounded by a dozen C-Sec officers. Saren nodded his head in appreciation, the Asari taking that as her cue to leave.

Saren walked over just as Palin dismissed his subordinates. The Head of C-Sec noticed him immediately. "Make it quick Spectre, I have to find the Councilors and break through those human defences." He said, his attention split between Saren and a datapad.

"What's the plan?" Saren asked. He had a few ideas of his own to chip in from his experience in the Turian Blackwatch, but he held his tongue, for now, to see what Palin had in mind.

Palin looked up from his datapad to analyse the contested Citadel Tower. "So far the enemy seems to be entrenched at the entrance and on the buildings on the flanks. We've taken back one of the buildings on the flanks, and the other should be back in our hands shortly. But every attempt we've made for the Tower itself has been repulsed." Pausing for a moment, he let out a short sigh. "I've lost too many officers trying to take the Tower back. Even a pair of gunships as well." He faced the open ground between the firebase and the Tower, it was strewn with fallen C-Sec officers, their black uniforms littering the white floor. A patrol car stabbed the ground, it's rear end sticking out at a 45-degree angle, smoke rising from the engine intakes.

He turned, facing himself to Saren, shoulders heavy with despair. "Honestly Spectre, other than throwing more bodies at them, I don't have a good plan. I suppose the only good thing to come out of this is what we've eliminated a substantial portion of their troops."

Saren saw this as his chance. "Executor, how many formal marine units have assembled?"

Palin pondered for a moment, accessing his memories. "About 4 platoons of Turian marines, 3 platoons of Salarian merchant marine and a single Asari commando squad."

"Gunships and fleet support?" Saren asked, his experience fighting Batarian slavers reminding him of the importance of air support.

"I have a pair ready for action, callsigns Talon 4 and 5. I am ordering all available forces to converge on the Tower so we should have more support soon. As for fleet support," he grimaced, "I heard from Matriarch Lidanya, they're taking heavy casualties, they might be falling back to the Relay soon. She sent word to the 4th Fleet on the other side, so hopefully they'll arrive in time."

Saren cringed at the loss of fleet support. It made his job a little bit harder. "Alright we need to move now, if the fleet is falling back then these aliens can expect reinforcements soon. Permission to take command of the regular troops?"

Palin gave his blessing, before moving off to supervise his troops. It occurred to Saren that of course, C-Sec couldn't retake the Tower, they were the police force and barely a paramilitary one at best. They were for keeping the peace, not assaulting a defended position.

He strode over to the regular troops standing idly, lost for instructions. "Who's in command here?" He called out to them.

A trio of Turian Lieutenants stepped forward, along with an Asari Huntress. The Salarians still looked lost, Saren deduced that their platoon leader was missing or dead.

"I am Spectre Saren Arterius. Effectively immediately, I am taking temporary command of your units." They looked at one another, confused at the suddenness of this. Saren continued, "we need to retake the Tower, the Councilors are still in there and we have no idea where they are. But under no circumstances can the humans capture them."

Looking determined, they looked ready to die to save the Councilors. "How do we go about that sir?" One of the Turian Lieutenants asked.

"We are going to leapfrog our way towards the entrance. One platoon will move up while the rest lay suppressing fire. Then another will move up. Then we repeat. We have a pair of gunships who will be making low-level strafing runs to assist. But we must reach the entrance. Any questions?" Saren answered rapidly, time was of the essence.

Silence prevailed across the force, only interrupted by the occasional burst of gunfire. The Turian were designated Platoons 1 to 4, the Asari were the 5th and the Salarians were split up between the Turians. "Alright, we move now," Saren ordered.

The force charged forward, assault rifles at the ready. The second they left the safety of the C-Sec firebase, they were met with a hail of bullets erupting from the entrance of the Tower. The bullets rained of them with unparalleled accuracy, as a Turian private found out. The first bullet hit him squarely in the chest, the second broke his kinetic barriers, the third went clean through his head. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Saren took cover behind a bench, the rest of his men copying him, hiding their profiles behind whatever they could find. He peeked his head, noting the human defences.

"1st Platoon move up, everyone else provide covering fire. Now!" He raised his head about the bench, squeezing the trigger as he did so. Rounds left his barrel, heat building up with each shot. The Turian platoon broke cover and charged forward, moving only a few meters at a time before finding cover again. The process repeated over and over, his men were making progress but at a cost. Each time they broke cover, one or two marines were killed. They were about halfway there when Saren's comms crackled to life.

"Saren! Come in!" Palin shouted into his ear through the earpiece.

"Executor, I'm here," Saren replied, jerking his head back as a shot chipped a bit of the wall he was hiding behind.

"Saren the fleet is falling back to the Relay. They're taking heavy casualties. And our forward observers report that human ships are closing in on the Citadel. You have to break through now! We are running out of time."

"We'll do our best. Saren out." He cut the line and mentally cursed to himself. A quarter of his men were dead, and they still had half way to go. "Asari Commandos, get out there and form biotic barriers."

The commandos broke cover and sprinted into the open, miraculously avoiding being hit. Their armor glowed with blue energy as the natural biotics put up massive domes of biotic shielding.

"Everyone into the shields!" Saren ordered. His surviving troops rushed into the domes, running as fast as their legs could carry them. Safely inside the barrier, bullets harmlessly bounced off the biotic barrier.

"Push forward!" He yelled. Together they edged their way forward, meter by meter. The Asari commandos using every ounce of strength in them to hold up the barriers. Saren switched the comms channel, "Talon 4, Talon 5 come in. Spectre 142 requesting air support."

An Asari voice crackled in, "Talon 4 here, where do you need us?"

"I need you to run a low-Level strafing run across the entrance to the Citadel Tower. Approach from bearing 140. Guns and rockets." Saren requested, if he could time the air strike just right, he could break through.

"Affirmative 142, we're inbound hot. ETA 1 minute, vectoring in hot." Came the reply, Saren breathing a sigh of relief only to have his face turn into horror a second later.

One of the Asari commandos collapsed from exhaustion, her barrier dissipating with her fall. As the protective barrier fell, human machine gun fire ripped into those once sheltered by the now gone barrier. Their shouts of pain drowned out by a pair of explosions. Limbs were separated from bodies, blood started oozing out from them. Saren winced as more than 20 men were killed instantly, but he was more determined to push forward. He needed to distract them so the gunships could make their attack run.

The familiar hum of gunship engines entered the corpse-strewn battlefield as his comms came to life once again. "Talon 4, Talon 5 on station. Rockets away. Guns guns guns." The gunship pilots reported.

The gunships unleashed a barrage of rockets, each with the power to take out a Mako. The rockets slammed into the ground, throwing debris, weapons and bodies into the air. Rapid flashes spat out from the chin mounted turret, bullets shredding the human positions. The gunships emptied their rocket pods and ejected the turrets heat sinks, flying over the human positions with incredible speeds. Their high-speed, low altitude approach caught the humans by surprise. As the gunships buzzed over, their jet wash blew over bullet-ridden corpses, pushed trickling blood across the pavement painting it a crimson red.

"Drop barriers! Grenades!" Saren roared, motivated by the effectiveness of the strafing run. The exhausted Asari dropped their barriers, and Turian and Salarian marines primed and lobbed grenades behind the makeshift human barricades. As the grenades detonated, the volume of human fire decreased. A few dazzled and concussed stragglers stumbled towards the entrance of the Tower, only to be cut down by well-placed shots from the advancing Citadel forces. Saren urges his men forward as they charged up a small staircase. At the top of it, he witnessed the carnage the gunships had wrought and felt no remorse whatsoever. He felt nothing, indifferent. They were soldiers following orders.

He pinged the Executor's comm unit, Palin's voice came on a few seconds later. "Spectre, status?"

"We've retaken the entrance. Though I'm fairly certain most of them are still bottled up inside the building. I'll need reinforcements to break through." Saren reported, now confident in his ability to secure the Councilors. He didn't notice the shadow creeping up on him.

"Very well, more marine units have arrived. I'll be sending them your way soon. In the meantime - by the spirits." The line suddenly cut, but Saren detected the mixture of awe and fear in the Executor's voice.

Saren felt the shockwaves flow over him, he turned back and Firebase Delta was a smoking pile of debris. Only now he then noticed the shadow engulfing him, and a chill fam down his spine. He turned around and looked up. The sun was gone, the sky was gone, in its place was a massive human super-dreadnought, longer and larger than most Turian ships. Flying alongside were smaller human cruisers, protecting the super-dreadnought. A pack of Turian frigates jumped in rather close proximity to the human vessels, launching disruptor torpedoes en mass. From the ground, Saren saw the results of this futile attempt. The super-dreadnought and it's escorts destroyed most of the torpedoes before they even got close, returning fire with what seemed to be overpowered mass accelerator shots. One shot took out a wing of one of the Turian frigates, the next crippled the vessel amidships. Another frigate lost its starboard engines, causing it to collide with a nearby frigate, the resulting exploding from compromised mass effect cores consuming them both. The entire pack was wiped out in minutes.

This race is no stranger to war. They clearly hold a technological advantage to us, the best we can do is outfight and outsmart them. Saren thought to himself, the once subtle rage now building slowly. A race of beings technologically and militarily superior to the Turians, besides the Protheans this was unacceptable. Hundreds of Turians aboard those frigates died to what end? They barely even touched the enemy ships. The cost in lives for both sides was so disproportionate he had no words to describe it. To Saren it seemed that for every bit of ground they retook, at least 5 men died. And for every one of their soldiers who fell, at least 10 paid the ultimate price.

The human super-dreadnought moved directly above Saren. Multiple black specks flew out from the massive vessel, getting larger each second. What seemed to be platforms dropped from the belly of the vessel, specks of grey getting larger with each passing second.

Dropships and drop-pods. Saren realised. They're the ground reinforcements Executor Palin predicted would arrive. "All units, fall back! Fall back!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, hoping enough of his troops would hear him through the chaos. He started sprinting away from the Tower, in no particular direction. Some saw the Spectre run, and figured now would be a good a time as any to follow. Others blindly stood there, as if they were glued in place by fear. They were crushed seconds later by a massive plate. Saren spied a look over his shoulder and what he saw terrified him.

On the massive plate was a massive six-legged vehicle. At least 10 meters tall and 22 meters long, an armoured cockpit dominated the front centre, with four cannons around it, and two more cannons at the rear. It sported a massive rail gun on the roof that looked capable of annihilating everything.

Saren just about managed to find cover when the enemy walker opened fire. It wiped out a platoon's worth of Saren's men instantly. He tucked himself into a ball and felt himself starting to break. He had victory and glory snatched away from him, and now his men were dying all around him. As the enemy dropships began landing, humans began disgorging from them. Saren switched his comms to a more open channel.

"All units! Firebase Delta is gone, I say again, Firebase Delta is gone! Fall-" An explosion cut off the voice.

"They're landing everywhere! Spirits the commander is dead, we need reinforcement-"

"Mayday mayday! Talon 4 going down, port thrusters gone. I'll try to put her down - Goddess, missile incomin-" static replaced the Asari pilot's voice.

"All hands, this is the Captain of the Verrikar, we've lost thrusters. The reactor is red-lining, we cannot contain the breach!" Klaxons could be heard before a series of explosions cut it off.

"Firebase Alpha is being overrun, they're cutting us down. Requesting reinforcements.

Saren squeezed his eyes shut, and braces himself for what he was about to do. "All units in the immediate vicinity of the Citadel Tower. This is Spectre Saren Arterius. Stand down, I say again, stand down. Surrender your arms and hope for the best." He switched off the comms channel and cried as he dropped his weapon and spied human soldiers moving towards him.

* * *

 **Inside the Citadel Tower**

The thermite charge blew open a hole in the door, the unstable mix of chemicals and explosives bent and melted metal, giving off a distinct smell. Before the smoke had dissipated, a trio of flashbangs and stun grenades flew into the room, gracefully bouncing off the floor. They detonated sending white flashes and a loud bang across the room. John waltzed into the room, squeezing the trigger of his assault rifle in controlled bursts. The remainder of Blue team followed him, with appropriate rates of fire for their weapons. The dozen or so occupants were neutralized in seconds, disoriented and blinded, they couldn't offer much of a fight. That seemed to be the way things were happening so far, General Williams informed him earlier that C-Sec in the immediate vicinity of the Tower were surrendering, with that the Marines were branching out striking targets across the Citadel.

"Clear." John announced, his voice stoic, they had searched room after room and there was no sign of the Councilors. They had even checked the Citadel Council Chamber and even their private offices, all had come up short.

"Relax Chief, only another 39 rooms to check." Cortana added sarcastically, John would never understand how she managed to find all this funny. "Red and Grey teams report that their sections of the building are nearly secure. Though they also report no sign of the Councilors."

John didn't react to that, it was expected of him and his fellow Spartans to carry out their duty at the highest levels of efficiency. Whatever the cost. "Blue team, next room." He ordered.

The four Spartans marched out of the room, rifles raised scanning every angle and surface. They re-entered the corridor and followed it, their heavy footsteps echoing down the pristine marble floor. With efficiency second to none, they cleared room after room, but without success. Each time, they repeated the same process, leaving a trail of dead C-Sec officers and guards in their wake.

They approached a corner, John held up a fist signalling Blue Team to stop. He could hear something, it sounded like a lot of shuffling and nervous breathing. He peeked his head around the wall, only to jerk it back instantly as bullets whizzed through space where his head would have been milliseconds ago. "I count 24 hostiles."

Cortana chimed in, her tone the usual uplifting and sarcastic. "Actually it's 34 if you add the guys hiding behind cover and pair mounting the turret. But it 10 men shouldn't make much difference would it? Some heavy firepower would do the trick."

John turned to face Fred, Blue Teams local heavy weapons specialist. "Fred hit the turret first."

"Finally I get to use this." He said happily, hefting the 20 kilogram M8 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle, or more commonly known as the Spartan Laser, onto his shoulder. Aesthetically, the M8 was identical to its predecessor, the M6, but thanks to Forerunner technology it was more efficient, slightly lighter and packed a bigger punch. Fred squeezes the trigger halfway, an increasingly high pitched whine indicated the laser was charging. As soon as the whine's pitch stabilized, Fred sighted the turret, confirmed the calibration between the laser and his HUD, aimed and pressed down hard on the trigger. Directed energy lashed out from the barrel covering the distance between itself and the torrent instantly. The destructive power ripped through whatever shielding it had, consuming it and everything in its immediate vicinity in fire.

Before the explosion had dissipated, Blue team charged around the corner, guns blazing. The sound effects of assault rifles, shotguns and pistols forming an orchestra on its own. Shell casings dropped to the floor like flowing water. It was over in seconds, bodies lay limp on the cold floor, slumped over makeshift barricades. Some had managed to get a few shots off, but it didn't do much.

John ejected his spent magazine onto the floor before reloading a fresh one. As he pulled the bolt back with a satisfying click, his shields regenerated giving off that lifesaving hum. Only now he realised that he was staring at a flat wall in front of him, a dead end.

Why bother defending this dead end with so much firepower? Perhaps it was their final stand? He thought to himself, swivelling his head to analyze the corpses around him. This is the final part of the building we haven't checked. So it is possible that this is their final stand. Unless…

In his HUD, John activated his suits thermal imaging suite. Reverse engineered Forerunner technology allowed UNSC engineers to improve upon infrared imaging sensors, they now had the ability to penetrate most materials, detect heat build ups and even separate living beings from hot objects. He scanned the wall, and three blooms lit up. They were all in different stances, one was sitting, another looked to be hiding and the final one appeared to be in a shooting stance.

A safe room, John realised. Using hand signals, Blue team stacked up on the wall, Linda placed a breach charge on the hidden door before retreating to a safe distance. John nodded to her and produced a flashbang from his utility belt. Linda tapped the detonator and the door blew inwards. John tossed the flash bang in, bouncing off one of the walls before exploding right in front of the figures' heads. As they staggered backwards in confusion, John charged in, disarming one the only armed figure - a Turian. As the Turian fell back stunned, the other two figures recovered and stared in confusion and defiance as they stared at Blue Team's raised weapons.

"Chief, I've run facial recognition. This is them, the Councilors." Cortana spoke through his internal helmet speakers.

"Open a channel to General Williams." John replied, a split second was all it took for Cortana to open the channel. John cleared his throat, "General Williams, we have them. Package secured."

* * *

 **UNSC _Reach_ , Dauntless class Dreadnought**

All things considered, the battle wasn't going to badly. Even with the arrival of the Turian reinforcements, Athena's ships were holding the line. Her carriers had entered the Citadel and deployed General Williams troops, and they had even repelled a small incursion of Turian frigates. The only downside was that most of the fleet's carriers and escorts were now deployed within the Citadel arms. Despite the small success, Athena's escort ships were paying a heavy price for it. Most of her larger capital ships had the shields and armour to absorb most of the Citadel barrages, the same could not be said for the escorts though. They were being singled out and destroyed through sheer volume of mass accelerator rounds. Turian attack bombers were making runs at the ships on the periphery of the formation forcing Athena to move them further to the rear of the formation and bring the heavier ships up to take their place. But every time a cruiser or a larger vessel was destroyed, the sting hurt a lot more.

"Admiral UNSC Alamo is reporting heavy damage. Her Captain is requesting permission to fall back." Her comms officer shouted over the klaxons.

"Permission granted. Have the _Ashani_ and the _Constitution_ move up and take her place." Athena replied, gripping her armrests tighter as the bridge shook from the impacts of mass accelerator rounds.

The Reach was in the thick of it, absorbing an endless stream of mass accelerator rounds. Her hard-light shields glowing gold with every hit, orange rocket glows followed the missiles launched from her missile tubes, fighter and bombers flew in and out of hangars replenishing their ammunition stores. Every minute or so, the PMAC or energy projectors flashed white with destructive brilliance. Inbound disruptor torpedoes were being shot out by point defence guns painting a nice blue. The purple of the Serpent Nebula was the perfect background for the explosion of colours that the space battle produced.

"Admiral, shields are down to 10%, we're detecting fluctuations all across the ship - mainly due to disruptor torpedo hits. Missile expenditure at 50%. PMAC gun 1 has overheated. Fighter screen maintaining position" Captain Duellos reported, years of military discipline forcing the calm controlled tone of his voice. Now that Athena was an Admiral, the heavy micro-managing task of commanding her vessel fell to her former XO.

"Noted. Keep firing Commander." Athena answered, the ship was now shaking more violently as portions of the shields gave way and bits of armour playing were blown off. A disruptor torpedo lucked through the point defence fire and hit the armour plating, warping it before ripping a sizeable chunk of it off. She had to give the Turians credit, they adapted to UNSC tactics fast. They were randomly manoeuvring their ships, making it that little bit harder for the AI's to track their targets. She studied her tactical display and glanced over at Hackett's lines. They were holding the line, but losing more ships. The Asari ships packed a bigger punch than the Turians, and could take the more hits. The massive vessel which ONI had identified as the _Destiny Ascension_ had even survived a direct hit from a PMAC, it was barely functioning but it had survived.

"Comms, get me Admiral Hackett!" She yelled, the comms officer nodded and typed into his console furiously, eventually bringing the Admiral's face onto the display. "Admiral Hackett, do you require assistance?" She asked.

"Negative Admiral. Hold the line, we cannot risk the Citadel fleets breaking through. The Union should be here soon -" he looked off-screen for a minute to yell at one of his officers. "Damnit Captain I know the Icebreaker has lost her fighter wing, order her to stay in position. I'll detach a group from the Harvest to assist. Admiral keep holding the line, but whatever happens, do not let the Turians turn your flank. If they do our carriers are at risk."

"Understood sir. If you still-"

"Admirals!" Her comms officer interrupted, "General Williams reports that the Councilors have been found and are willing to surrender with conditions. He is awaiting further orders."

Hackett grinned but maintained his serious composure. "Good. Tell the General that he is not to accept any surrender, even if it's unconditional until the Union get here and we have crippled more of their fleet. We need to send them a message that we are not to be trifled with." Athena's comms officer acknowledged the order and began transmitting it. "Now all we need to do is hold out until the Union get here. I will send word to General Achen, inform him to continue striking military targets across the Citadel until told otherwise." As he finished, Athena caught a glimpse of a shower of sparks raining down around him.

"Very good sir. Admiral if you still need reinforcements, I can spare a few ships to reinforce your flank. Should you need them of course." Athena offered - according to her tactical display, Hackett's right flank was taking a pounding. The Salarians were doing long range hit and run attacks on Hackett's ships, and it was taking its toll.

Hackett pondered for a moment, calmly rubbing his grey beard as chaos evolved behind him. "Very well Admiral, I'll take your offer for assistance. Have them put on the extreme right, extend the line out. Maybe it will make the Salarians think twice before trying another attack again. Hackett out."

Athena cursed silently to herself at the situation they were in. Essentially they were holding a blockade of the Citadel and the Citadel races seemed hell-bent on breaking through. Though every attempt they had made so far resulted in failure. The entire space was littered with debris, chunks of torn hull plating drifted lazily, bodies sucked out into the vacuum of space frozen solid rotated on their own axes.

"Admiral, detecting slipspace ruptures at the Relay. It's the Union, they're here!" The sensor officer shouted out. As she finished, hundreds of slipspace portals opened and poured out the sleek Union vessels. As they decanted, they unleashed a flurry of energy projectors and plasma torpedoes. Each one burning through the hull of the Citadel ships. Their technologically inferior kinetic barriers not designed at all to counter plasma weaponry. It was only a matter of time before enough of the Citadel fleet was disabled or destroyed. The Union carried out their part of the mission with ruthless efficiency, launching volley after volley of plasma torpedoes. Seemingly endless streams of energy lances sliced through hull armour like a sharp knife through paper.

"To all UNSC and Union vessels, this is Admiral Hackett." His voice suddenly boomed over an open comms channel. "Ceasefire, I say again ceasefire. As of now, an unconditional surrender from the Citadel Council has been accepted. All ships are to stand down and begin recovery operations. The day is ours, well done to you all. Hackett out."

Almost instantly, every UNSC and Union ship ceased firing. The UNSC AI's dropped their cyberwarfare suites and jamming signals and finally allowed the Council to talk to their own fleets, and soon after they stopped firing. The battle was over, Athena allowed herself to slump into her chair and relaxed her muscles. She never realised how exhausted she was until now.

Wearily standing up, she turned to Captain Duellos. "Captain, begin recovery operations. I'll be in my quarters." She registered a single 'aye admiral' before she unconsciously blocked everything else out.

Without waiting for a reply, she walked through the bridge blast doors as they slid open. The marine guards presenting their arms in salute. As she strode through the corridors, damage control teams were already running around, welding torches and Huragok in tow. Injured sailors were being rushed to sickbay for treatment. As she approached her quarters, another pair of marine guards saluted her. She managed to salute back before entering her 20 by 15-metre room, dropping on the bed and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 _Office of Naval Intelligence_

 _Clearance: Level 2 (Analyst and higher)_

 _Department: ONI Section 1_

 _Report Subject: Marine Heavy Assault Walker 'Oliphant'_

 _Date Published: 3rd July 2589_

 _Taking on inspiration from the Mantis. The Marine Corps and the Army decided to embrace a broader use of walker vehicles. With the Mantis an already tried and tested vehicle, The Corps and the Army turned to the Oliphant. A six-legged beast with enough firepower to fight off both infantry and just about any other vehicle known in existence. Equipped with six 40mm anti-personnel cannons and a single rooftop mounted extended barrel Mini-MAC. The Oliphant is more than capable of handing out punishment._ _With armour thicker than the Komodo Dragon MBTs, she is also incredibly well armoured. However, she trades speed off for these advantages. While she is slow, her height means that her crew is better protected from landmine blasts. With feet that can grapple almost any surface, these walkers are also theoretically capable of climbing any vertical height._

 _With armour and firepower unparalleled by any other vehicle in the UNSC, but with a slow top speed. It is recommended that this vehicle be used in breakthrough situations, either from a landing zone or to establish a beach-head. Designers have also designed it to be able to be dropped from space with an enlarged modified version of the ODST DropPod. In short, this vehicle would be an excellent assault vehicle, especially in terrain that does not favour tracked or wheeled vehicles._

 _In the Marine test pilots words "_ I cannot wait to field test this thing."

* * *

 **AN: Thanks to** **Azrael The Deplorable for pointing out the confusion with the surrendering, it has now been rectified.**


	10. Chapter 10: Negotiations

**Citadel Tower, Citadel**

 **Serpent Nebula**

The last time she had felt this powerless, Tevos was a child. Here she was, one of the most powerful beings and the most powerful Asari in the galaxy, being escorted at gunpoint to a clearing At the very least they had dignified her not to put her in handcuffs, but with the number of guards that surrounded her and her fellow Councilors, it was equally as humiliating. As she walked through the rubble layered Presidium Commons, she looked up at the towering apartments around her only to shoot her head down in shame once again. Civilians were watching the small procession behind windows, only having the courage to peek their upper half out when the humans announced the surrender of the Council. Tevos was ashamed, she failed to serve the people to the best of her ability. The endless bloodshed that now surrounded her could have been so easily avoided. She looked around her at the carnage, buildings were on fire large chunks of them missing. Black carbon scorching dotted the formerly pristine white coloured buildings of the presidium, bullet holes drew lines across in concrete walls. Smoke was rising from a crashed C-Sec patrol car nearby, it's occupants slumped forward limp. Besides the occasional shouting from the humans and the crackling of fire and broken conduits, silence prevailed.

She felt someone gently nudge her shoulder, she turned to see Sparatus gesturing towards the pond in the commons. The Turian Councilor looked disheartened at the sight of a pair of Turian frigates that had crashed there nose first, their engines sputtering out sparks and smoke. The Krogan statue that had been built to commemorate the Krogans for their participation in the Rachni Wars lay in ruins with part of a Mantis gunship occupying the place where the upper body should have been. Tevos brought her vision front again, only to be stunned at entire rows of deceased human soldiers. They were neatly laid out facing upwards on stretchers, their eyes shut. They had their hands by their sides and their weapon on their chests. Their surviving comrades solemnly draping black flags over them, it had an emblem on it: a bird of some kind above a globe. Some of the flags were red, with a black and gold skull with what looked like a box or pod behind it. There had to be hundreds of bodies, perhaps maybe in the low thousands. For a while, Tevos felt sorrow and sympathy in her, these were soldiers following orders, doing their duty. All that changed when Valern pointed out the bodies on the other side of the clearing just outside the Citadel Tower. There were thousands of C-Sec and marine units lying dead, randomly spread out through the streets. Turians, Asari, Salarians. All victims of failed attempts to retake the Tower. Even if the humans meant to tidy them up later, for Tevos to see her citizens and loyal servants of the Council in such a manner - it infuriated her. She felt that uncontrollable rage and hatred slowly build with each body she counted. It was double that for an Asari. These humans dared to attack the Citadel, the very heart of their government. Right now on her mind, diplomacy was the farthest thing. She reigned in her anger before it got the better of her, she was an Asari. She would be patient, the Council will swallow this defeat, and in time build up their strength and then replace these humans and their allies as masters of the galaxy. The Council was the only viable and useful government the galaxy had, there was no alternative.

Her thoughts were broken when a human dropship roared overhead, it's engines whining as it descended and touched down in front of them. It gracefully bounced a small bit as the landing gear's suspension supported the weight of the massive dropship. As a ramp lowered, hitting the ground with a soft thud, a female human officer stood at the top looking down on the Councilors. She did not walk down the ramp to greet them. To Tevos, everything had a meaning to it, to her this meant that the humans did not respect her position as Councilor and they were making sure she knew it.

"Councilors, if you will follow me, I will take you aboard our flagship for negotiations." She said, in fluent Asari without waiting for a reply, she turned and walked back into the dropship.

Not sensing any other options, Tevos and her fellow Councilors marched up the ramp. Tevos suspected the human officer must have been using a universal translator. The dropship's interior was proportionate to that of its exterior. It was a large bay with seats lined up on both sides, empty weapon racks were present above each seat. Tevos sat on one of the empty seats near the end of the dropship, Sparatus sat beside her and Valern opposite her. The human officer took a seat next to the Salarian Councilor. The dropships engines whine increased in pitch until it broke into a roar. As its four jets lifted it off the ground, the Councilors finally got an above ground view of the aftermath. Smoke was rising from all over the Citadel, the military docks, the warehouse district, C-Sec headquarters, all were ablaze. The dropship pilot must have left the ramp open on purpose because it was giving the Councilors a full view of the destruction. As they flew over the docks, Sparatus was close to breaking. Tevos could find no reason to blame him.

At least a dozen Turian ships of all kinds were destroyed, all burning in their berths. Part of the defence fleet, the ships would have been docking either for resupply or simply for shore leave. It was one thing to see a warship destroyed in battle, and another to see them destroyed while they're under construction. But these were destroyed in dock way before they even had a chance to see any action, and that hurt Sparatus more than ever. Warship perfectly capable of projecting Turian and Citadel power across the galaxy now lay in ruin, simply because they had chosen today to make port. Never before in Turian, or even Citadel history, had they been utterly decimated by another power to this scale. Before today, Sparatus was under the illusion that the Turian Hierarchy was the most powerful military force in existence, and today his views were shattered first hand. Sparatus was only saved from bursting into tears when the ramp started to close.

Tevos was pushed back into her seat when the dropship kicked in its afterburners pushing it beyond the Citadel's own atmosphere. The picture in space was not any prettier, what was left of the combined Citadel race fleets were finally allowed to approach the Citadel to assist in damage control. Of the nearly 4000 Citadel aligned warships that fought in the defence of the Citadel, Tevos's most optimistic estimate was just over a quarter survived. Tevos was relieved to see the _Destiny Ascension_ amongst the survivors but winced when she saw the damage the Asari flagship had taken. The Ascension was venting atmosphere in multiple places, a huge section near the ships main drive core was breached. A shot had penetrated the hull and gone clean through the ship and exited the other side leaving torn bulkheads in its wake. The ship was barely running on emergency power, evident with its inconsistent stuttering running lights and flickering engines. There were a few other ships Tevos recognised, the _Nephrane_ , _Huntress_ , _Thessia_ all distinguished vessels in the navy of the Asari Republics. But now they all bore the scars of battle. Tevos glanced at Sparatus, who seemed to have a glimmer of hope when he identified the _Unification_ , flagship of the Turian 5th Fleet, though like all the other ships, was heavily damaged. She turned back to look out the window and spied a handful of Turian frigates searching through a massive debris field searching for survivors. The human and their allies had withdrawn their ships to the edge of the system, their fleets neatly divided into two. The humans and their more blocky angled ships one half, their allies the other - leaving a nice wide gap between them.

Tevos noticed the dropship wasn't making for any particular ship in either fleet, rather it was making for the large gap in the middle. "Where are we going?" She asked the human officer, she was worried that the humans were now attempting to kidnap the three most important figures in Citadel space.

The human officer didn't answer, she merely lowered her head while raising her eyebrows slightly gesturing Tevos to look out the window. At first, she was confused there was nothing there, just empty space. At the corner of her eye, she noticed the human ships moving outwards as if they were making space for something. It confirmed her thought when their allies ships began moving off to a side as well.

'What are they making space for?' Tevos thought to herself. Then as if the Goddess herself was listening, two gargantuan portals of blinding white light appeared. It was as if someone had dropped a drop of water onto a still pond, it originated from nothing and was now spreading out with a diameter far larger than Tevos could guess. Out of each portal, the tips of a vessel poked through before it got bigger. With each passing second, the ship continued to leave the portal, getting bigger and bigger. When the portals eventually closed after the last of the vessel had left, Tevos was speechless. In front of her, and parked right in front of the Citadel, were two absolutely massive space stations - space stations that had the ability to travel. They looked as long as the Citadel itself, a bit shorter maybe, but definitely just as long.

"That's where we are going." The human officer finally said, breaking her silence. Tevos and the other Councilor snapped their heads in the direction of her voice, her fellow Councilors were equally as stunned as she was. "The UNSC _Preston Cole_. Flagship and pride of the UNSC. That ship next to it is the _Icon of Sanghelios_. The flagship of his Imperial Majesty Arbiter Thel 'Vadam of the Sangheili Union."

"Wait. Those are ships - not space stations? How are you even powering them? How can they move? Impossible. I must have a word with STG command..." Valern rambled on as the human officer simply grinned and lay back.

Sparatus was too shocked to even move. He marvelled at what he was seeing, he stared out the window, his talons on either side of the window. Tevos thought he looked like a child staring at a new toy in the window. Though again, she couldn't blame him, she could only wonder what kind of fantasy must be going through his head. Probably something along the lines of how great the Hierarchy would be if they had not one, but two of these massive awe-inspiring and terrifying vessels.

Tevos could only fear what was to come. If this was their most powerful vessel, then everything before now had only been a taster of what these humans capable of. From the moment she was told that the humans had arrived at the Citadel with an entire invasion fleet, that was the only emotion she had felt: fear. Fear of the retribution of what was to come. Fear of the unknown. Fear that the Citadel and Asari technological supremacy had, at last, come to its end.

* * *

 **UNSC _Preston Cole_ , Sol class Super-Dreadnought**

 **Space surrounding the Citadel, Serpent Nebula**

President Akira Nakamura watched on the conference rooms screen as the Pelican carrying the Citadel Council touched down in the small hangar bay. There was a decently sized honour guard, a thousand marines armed to the teeth awaited them as the ramp started lowering. It was a two-handed gesture, the first being that the UNSC acknowledged that they were foreign dignitaries and would thus show that the required amount of respect, the second was to send a message to them: do not mess with us. By now the Councilors were making their way down the ramp to a waiting Captain. Akira had spent the entire trip here going over the list that her cabinet had put together - it covered just about everything: monetary compensation, territorial concessions, a clear outline of the borders and especially the stance of the military as a whole. There had been a lot of debate within the Senate between what to do. Some wanted peaceful relations with the Citadel, to encourage trade and cooperation - they shunned the supposed overkill the UNSC had displayed. Others wanted to outright declare total war on the Citadel races, and they raised a valid point. The last time humanity met an alliance of aliens, it nearly wiped humanity out. Akira had to concede that they did make a few good points, the best one being: better to eliminate the threat now and regret it later. Of course, these were the hardliners of either side. Most of the senators simply wanted to embrace their own policy of isolationism. Acknowledge and recognise the Citadel Council as the legitimate government and leaders of their sovereign state, but let them keep to their side of the border.

There was a reason why the _Preston Cole_ had been chosen as the site of the negotiations. It was definitely equipped for that, a near quarter of the ship was dedicated to the Federation's bureaucracy. It housed a portion of the government in it along with enough civilians to warrant the ship's own internal police force. It sported luxurious quarters for diplomats and dignitaries, the interior architecture inspired by the ancient Imperial Russia Tsarist era palaces. Gold, diamond, precious jewels and luxurious metals lined the most prestigious guest quarters. The ship was also the UNSC's most powerful weapon, aside from the proper WMD's and planet killers that the navy had tucked away in some underground bunker somewhere. Despite the _Cole's_ destructive ability, it was still not considered a front line ship, it filled the role of a support vessel or carrier better. It had its own shipyards capable of replenishing entire fleets in days from its manufacturing centres. It carried enough fighters and bombers to garrison at least 3 planets, and that was not even counting its reserves. The hydroponics bay that spanned an entire 12 decks ensured that the Cole and any accompanying fleet would be completely self-sufficient in foodstuffs. It represented the pinnacle of human achievement thus far and was perfectly capable of representing both the carrot and the stick.

Akira's thoughts were distracted when the doors to the conference room hissed open. Heavy steps thudded on the floor, armour shifting with every step. There was a short pause as the unknown being analysed the room. An elaborate room, suitable for the occasion - decorated to impress, a pure gold outlined screen on one of the walls, a large viewport made of reinforced glass opposite the door gave a perfect view of the Citadel and the UNSC fleet, and a beautiful smooth mahogany table in the centre, with 5 chairs on either side. Of course, he would analyse the room looking for the quickest way out, or what could be used as a weapon - forever the spec-ops warrior turned politician. Akira deduced that it could only be one person instantly and turned to face him.

"Arbiter, it's good to see you again." She said happily, she was one of the few humans to maintain a good relationship with the Arbiter of the Sangheili Union. While they were on a first-name basis, they were professional enough to use their formal titles.

"Madame President, it pleases me greatly to see you in such good health." Thel stopped for a moment to raise a fist to his chest and bowed before offering his right hand out. "Again I must thank you for that latest intelligence on Forerunner sites within our territory, our best and brightest are already combing the area."

Akira made a few steps to close the distance, accepting his held out hand and shaking it. "It's my pleasure Arbiter. It is my continued wish to uphold the alliance between our peoples. Things like this make us both stronger."

The Arbiter pulled his equivalent of a smile, before releasing Akira's hand. "It is a shame that we must meet again under such circumstances." He let out a sigh before continuing. "I had hoped that we would avoid meeting another civilisation like this. I assume you have read the intelligence dossier on them?"

Akira remembered that feeling of disgust when she was reading that dossier. To her, it was pure garbage. The banishment of the Quarians, the Rachni war, the Krogan rebellion, lack of action to combat Batarian slavery, the Genophage, it was a long list of the horrific and disgusting things the Citadel Council have done in the name of galactic security. "Yes, the actions they have committed are treacherous at best. Personally, I would have ordered the subjugation of such a government, but I have to abide by the will of the Senate." She let out her own sigh and walked over to the viewport to stare out into space.

Thel moved to join her on the other side of the viewport. "That is most unfortunate." He said lightly, half contemplating his own idea, half inspecting a UNSC battleship passing by along with a flight of Broadsword fighters, their engines glowing a beautiful blue. "However I am not bound by my government. In fact, I think my people will happily carry on the fight. Of course, should you wish to maintain peaceful relations with them, I will understand."

The door to the conference room hissed open again. This time a pair of UNSC Admirals walked in, to represent the UNSC at the negotiations. While officially the UNSC answered to the civilian government, unofficially they held just as much if not more political power than most in the Senate. Plus it was also appropriate to include them in, given the violent first contact circumstances they had just been through. Humanities history demanded that the military be present at these negotiations, to ensure that the security of mankind is secured and safeguarded. Akira recognised Admiral Hackett immediately, his rough facial features and his beard giving him away. His colleague was much a much younger, shorter, smoother female who Akira had never met before. The pair walked in and snapped to attention, saluting their commander in chief.

"Madame President. Arbiter. Reporting as ordered." Hackett announced to the room, his salute completely still as if his hand was frozen to his head.

Akira and the Arbiter returned with their own respective salutes. "At ease Admirals." She shot a quick look at Hackett with the underlying message to introduce her to his colleague.

Hackett got the message. "Madame President, this is Admiral Athena Greyson, commander of the 16th Fleet. She's also the one who fended off the assault on New Madrid against the odds."

The name clicked instantly with Akira. For the moment, she was the hero of the UNSC and the one to thank for the advantageous position the Federation now found itself in. Akira wondered if she knew just how much publicity she was getting across UNSC space. The public was essentially worshipping her. "Admiral Greyson, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I want to thank you for your service."

"Thank you Madame President," She replied, "I just did what any would have done in my place."

"Madame President, Arbiter, Admirals" A voice came out of nowhere, all heads turned to face the direction of the voice. On the table, an AI was standing there, its avatar taking the dress of the 20th-century politician Winston Churchill, even the cigar. Though he did not share the same shape as the famous war-time prime minister. "Apologies for interrupting your conversation. But they're here."

"Thank you, Winston. Once the negotiations start, I want you to hide, I suspect they won't react well when I tell them we use AIs. Record the entire meeting, everything here goes on the record." Akira replied, smiling at her personal AI. She and the Arbiter moved to take positions behind the table, backs to the viewport, gesturing the pair of UNSC admirals to join them. As they moved around the table to join the heads of state, Akira looked to Winston. "Send them in and engage the universal translators please."

Winston nodded and winked from existence as the doors hissed open. The three Councilors walked in, the Asari first, followed by the Turian with the Salarian bringing up the rear. Akira could see right through their masked fear, their bitter faces after losing the battle. Defeat was often a hard thing to swallow, but when you've inflicted such heavy losses as the UNSC just did to the Citadel, it would have been hard to have any pride left at all.

"Councilors, welcome aboard the UNSC _Preston Cole_. I am President Nakamura of the United Human Federation." Akira gestured to Thel on her right, "This is Arbiter Vadam of the Sangheili Union. And on my left are Admirals Hackett and Greyson of the United Nations Space Command."

"I am Councilor Tevos, representing the Asari Republics."

"Councilor Valern, of the Salarian Union."

"Councilor Sparatus of the Turian Hierarchy."

Akira smiled and offered them to sit, sitting down herself. Of course, she knew all their names before now, ONI's dossier on the Councilors had been rather detailed, she knew what to expect from them based on the predictions. Sparatus would play the prideful Turian, even after the trashing the UNSC just gave them, but he respects military strength. Valern would seek to gain knowledge of the technology that drives Human and Sangheili society. Tevos would want open borders and trade agreements to expand the already dominate Asari economy in the region.

Akira cleared her throat. "So let's get the most obvious thing out of the way. With your surrender, are all parties in the room in agreement to an end to hostilities?" Directing the second half mainly at the Councilors.

Tevos spoke up, her voice a little bit shaky. "Yes, the conflict between our people's is over."

"Excellent. We will discuss the finer points later." Akira continued, happy that humanity could finally experience peace again. "I think, for now, you deserve a more thorough introduction to us."

"As you may have guessed already, we-" she gestured to the 3 humans at the table. "- are humans. The United Human Federation is our sovereign nation that spans across the stars. The UNSC is the military, scientific and exploratory arm of the Federation, responsible for protecting our worlds and protecting our sovereignty. The Sangheili Union are our allies."

"The Sangheili Union is made of a collection of species. Unlike the humans, our government type is much more...simplistic." The Arbiter continued, directing his words at the Councilors, "We are an imperium and as the President mentioned, close allies of humanity."

Sparatus looked concerned. He looked at Akira, "Are you not a protectorate species of the Union?"

Akira was speechless. She just didn't know what to think or say. It was honestly the last thing she was expecting to hear and she feel the subtle anger making its presence known within her. "No, we aren't. We are our own independent state" she said coldly.

The Arbiter looked perplexed. "How did you come to such conclusions?"

Sparatus explained what they understood. Mentioning how a relatively small human fleet came to the aid of New Madrid, and that it was the Union who really saved the day. They added how they thought it was their capital or at the very least a major colony as well, the levels of industrialization matched the small defence fleet.

The Arbiter summed it up perfectly. "So simply because my people showed up with a bigger fleet over a human planet to defend it? You just assumed that the humans were a protectorate of us?"

Now that the Councilors were hearing it out loud like that, from the people in question. It did sound like a very stupid assumption. An awkward silence prevailed for a few seconds before Akira broke it.

"Arbiter if I may show the borders of our respective states?" The hulking Sangheili nodded. Akira typed in a few commands onto a nearby datapad. The holo-projector in the room hummed to life, displaying the Milky Way as a whole, which prompted separated into multiple different coloured segments.

The Councilors stared at the map in awe, they knew they controlled or had influence in roughly half the known galaxy, what they didn't expect was these the other half to be completely occupied. How had they not made contact with each other somehow?

Tevos recovered the fastest, "If I may be so bold, how many worlds do each of you hold?"

Akira shot the Arbiter a look, who returned it. Akira wanted as little to do with these people as possible, and the best way to do that was to limit the amount of information they had. "I'm afraid that's classified, but I can tell you that there are more than 800 colonies within our borders.

The Councilors were flabbergasted. How does a central government maintain control over 800 plus colonies? They had enough problems with the colonies bordering Batarian space and the Terminus Systems. They looked to Thel to see if he would give a more precise answer.

Thel played along, projecting a sign of unity. "We have...enough worlds." Valern opened his mouth to speak but the Sangheili stopped him with a stare. "Don't bother asking me to give you an exact number. Because you won't get it."

Valern shut his mouth. Tevos continued on behalf of her colleague, "well there are over a hundred colonies between-"

Now was Akita's chance to play the intelligence card. The fact that the Federation and the Union knew nearly everything there was about the Citadel races gave them an advantage beyond comprehension. "We know Councilor. When you attack our colony, we captured a copy of your codex. We know enough about the general state of affairs and your history." Technically, it was only half the truth, the ONI was able to decode just about all the intelligence they captured from New Madrid - civilian and military.

Sparatus and Valern shifted uncomfortably. Their facial expressions as clear as crystal. The more military-minded Councilors assumed that military intelligence was compromised as well. Tevos realised the issue a second later. "Well anyway, despite what has happened between our peoples. We, the Council, hereby invite the Federation and the Union to join the Citadel. To share our collective military power, intelligence and economic might to make the galaxy a better and safer place."

Valern and Sparatus looked hopeful, once the Federation and the Union joined, they would be able to access the superior technologies they lacked. Tevos internally prayed to the Goddess that they wouldn't see through her ploy. Once they joined she would be able to control them better, keep them in check with the threat of sanctions.

Akira didn't let the silence last long. "Thank you for the offer, but we humbly reject your proposal."

"As do we." The Arbiter echoed.

Tevos was visibly shocked, it wasn't the first time today. No species had rejected an invitation into the Council before. "I do not understand, would you not want to be part of the greater galaxy?"

It was a smart question, Tevos was trying to find out humanity's plans as a species. "No, we have no interest in joining you. What I propose instead is that you keep to your side of the border and we keep to ours. No trade, no tourism, no military exercises. Nothing. I am willing to establish an embassy here for future diplomatic relations, but that is it." Akira said plainly, making her government and people's position clear.

"You have to join the Citadel." Sparatus said suddenly, "think of how much of a better place the galaxy would be if you did."

"Councilor lets be honest here. Our forces hold military superiority and you know it. Us joining the Citadel would be more beneficial for you than it would be for us, you would have access to our technology, our wider economy and the numerous amounts of space that exist within our borders. There's also the fact that there are some rules of yours which we simply cannot abide by." Akira countered, indirectly leading the conversation.

"Like what exactly Madame President?" Valern asked sadly, disappointed that his desire to study UNSC technology was becoming slimmer by the minute.

"For one, and arguably the most primary one, the Treaty of Farixen," Akira remembered the Senate's outcry to it, they were not prepared to compromise the security of the UNSC to join the wider galaxy, assuming that they wanted to in the first place. "Our fleet would be severely handicapped with your Treaty. Our ship classes differ hugely in size."

Tevos was about to ask for clarification on that when Admiral Greyson spoke up. She gestured to the viewport full of the idle but alert fleet of UNSC vessels in the distance. "Those smaller ships there, those are nearly 500 meters long. What would be the equivalent of your cruisers, are our frigates. The kilometre-long ship next to it? Those are our cruisers. The rest is rather self-explanatory, but that fleet out there consists of everything from frigates all the way to our version of dreadnoughts."

The Councilors were speechless, what they considered to be the mainstay of their fleets, the cruisers, were the human equivilent of mere frigates.

Thel spoke next, "You can't see any of my species ships from here. But we follow a somewhat similar scale. The ships your commanders would have fought are some of our most advanced warships."

"How did you manage to build your vessels so large and power them without the use of Element Zero? Everything we know off in this galaxy related to space travel has some connection to it." Valern quipped, hoping to build upon his tiny database of knowledge on the humans.

"None of our ships run on Element Zero, we have managed to be completely independent of it. Unfortunately, I can not tell you what our ships do run on, it's classified." Replied Hackett.

"How is that possible, did you not find any ruins of the Protheans?"

Akira recalled reading about them in the intelligence dossiers. The Protheans, the Council's equivalent of the Forerunners, though significantly less technologically advanced. "No, we have no evidence or ruins of Prothean structures. Everything was developed by ourselves after decades of experimentation." She lied, and everyone on her side of the table knew it.

The Arbiter quickly addressed the next issue with pure clarity. "There is also the issue that the Council has against weapons of mass destruction. Those weapons form a portion of both my people's and the human's arsenal's."

Sparatus disgustingly looked at him, "You mean the nuclear weapons you utilize?"

Thel shook his head, "my people do not use such devices. We use these instead." He pulled a data chip out of a small pouch and linked it to the room's holographic projector. As the room automatically darkened, the projector displayed footage that was the cause of many of the Great War veterans PTSD.

Akira studied the footage, a silver hulled Union assault carrier was hovering above ruins. New Mombasa, Earth, she recognized the infamous location almost immediately, it's unique landscape of fertile fields and ruined city giving it away. Though the footage was muted, she could mentally hear the whine of the plasma bombardment weapon charge up, glowing a brilliant bright purple almost white light. The zap that came after as the superheated concentrated plasma lashed downwards in a column. It burned fields, rivers, houses, people, leaving nothing but ash and glass. The footage ended there.

As the conference room brightened up again, Akira analysed the Councilors facial expression, horrified was a suitable description.

"W-what can justify using weapons with this level of destructive power. What is the planet's fate?" Sparatus exclaimed, his face full of fear that Palaven could have been subjected to the same fate if hostilities continued.

The Arbiter's answer was short and simple. "We were at war Councilor, we did what we had to at the time. As for the planet, the plasma bombardment leaves the surface uninhabitable until significant terraforming efforts are done " It was a smart answer, it didn't give away much, especially the fact that the target of that war was sitting right next to him.

"But surely it does not warrant this level of destruction? What kind of threat did this people do to you?" Tevos asked directly, horrified at the potential war crime.

Thel shot a look at Akira and almost as if they telepathically understood each other, they thought the same thing. Do they tell the Councilors about the Flood? If they told them about the Flood threat, they would be aware and prepare accordingly. Everytime the Federation or the Union discovered a flood outbreak, it was contained with the most brutal methods. Everything was utilised, from plasma bombardments to the rare NOVA bombs. A few infected colonies were wiped off the face of the galaxy to contain the Flood. Of course, all this was kept from public knowledge. Warning the Council about the Flood threat would have been prudent, but it would have invited discussion about the Forerunners and one thing will lead to another. Akira had no doubt that if the Councilors knew of the Forerunners legacy, they would tear worlds apart looking for their structures. At that moment, Akira made the decision to keep anything related to the Forerunner's secret.

"There is another issue about us joining the Citadel. One that we know you will disapprove of immediately." She changed the topic rapidly, letting the silence hang as she braced herself to drop the bombshell. "Both the Union and the UNSC make extensive use of Artificial Intelligence."

The Councilors leapt out of their chairs in a mixture of shock, anger and fear. "Are you all mad?! You must purge them all before you bring doom upon us! AI have proven to be ambitious and dangerous beings. And I must point out that I hesitate to describe them as such." Tevos yelled out.

Akira noticed Hackett's and Greyson's palms now resting on the butts of their sidearms, holstered to their thighs. "Councilors if you will just take your seats I will -"

Valern rudely cut her off. "History has shown what AI's are capable of. Unpredictable. Dangerous. Capable of genocide. Disloyal. Ambitious. No, they cannot be trusted. You must disband them at once, for the safety of all of us."

The Councilors were shouting over each other, each one trying to make their argument heard, even though it was the same argument. Things were spiralling out of control, fast. Akira tried calling out to them, asking them to calm down only to have her request fall on death ears. Thel stood up and started hammering one armoured fist on the wooden table, the other reaching for the energy sword on his belt.

"Sit down Councilors. Or I won't restrain myself the next time." He bellowed out, warning them to contain themselves.

Tevos lowered herself back into her chair slowly, her colleagues following suit. She was clearly embarrassed, allowing herself to have an outburst like that. "My apologies Madame President, Arbiter. It's just that given our history with AI's, they have proven to be a problem to society."

"We disagree," Akira said plainly. "The Federation and the UNSC have used AI's for hundreds of years, they have become an integral part of our society. We used to have an issue with them but that has been fixed. AI's are almost just as much citizens of the Federation as I am. And according to our history, we have had no problems with them."

"Surely you cannot trust them still Madame President. It's only a matter of time before they turn on you. Please, I beg you, destroy them while you still have the chance. Look at the Quarians, exiled from their own homeworld, left to wander the stars like nomads."

"No. As I said just now, we consider AI's valuable citizens of the Federation and we will not abandon or even commit what would effectively be genocide on our own citizens." Akira replied firmly, "Actually I'm glad you brought up the Quarians, quite frankly I think it's shameful how your predecessors handled it all. In fact, I think how your Council has handled delicate situations is nothing short of horrific. Your acts in tolerating Batarian slavery and the Genophage speaks enough on its own."

The Councilor's faces writhed in anger, this was a direct verbal attack on the Council and the Citadel itself. "You have no right to criticise us for the actions of our predecessors. Quite frankly the Quarians brought it upon themselves. If they hadn't developed AI then they would still have their homeworld, Rannoch. As for the Genophage, the Krogans were expanding rapidly throughout our space, their birth rates were uncontrollable. As for the Batarians, as barbaric as it may be, slavery is part of their cultural heritage, we have no right to get them to stop that." Tevos argued, desperate to make her argument legitimate with whatever it took."

Akira opened her mouth to counter her argument, but she could not find her voice. She was too shocked and disappointed about what she just heard. Thel sensed her problem and spoke for her. "Then you are as lost as we feared. The Krogan deserve better, they served you well in the Rachni Wars, and genocide is how you repay them. The Quarians, they make a single mistake in your eyes and when they ask for help you cast them out? I thought your Council existed to help each other in times of need. It is a truly dishonourable act that your predecessors did not keep their word."

"And the Batarians." He spat out their species name. "Slavery is inexcusable. This cultural heritage nonsense is flawed and stupid. The fact that you tolerate Batarian slavery speaks volumes about the kind of people you are."

He stood up, his massive figure towering over the Councilors. "When I read the intelligence brief I was given about you people, I had hoped that most of it were false. Now that I have met you in person, I am disappointed. I am done here, I will not be party to all this." He walked over to the door, tapping a button on a nearby console. As the door hissed open, he turned back to Akira. "Madame President, I will be on the _Icon of Sanghelios_ should you need me." With that he turned back and walked out, the door shutting behind him.

"You are right about one thing Councilors," Akira said, after a long pause. "We cannot blame you for the actions of your predecessors. However, you are also not in any position to dictate to me what we can and cannot do, especially since we refuse to join the Citadel."

She looked at Sparatus. "Councilor, we still hold several thousand of your soldiers prisoners. We are willing to release them all on one condition."

Sparatus looked like he was frowning a bit. "And what condition would that be?"

"That you let us keep General Vitallios. He is wanted by our courts for war crimes."

The Turian Councilor went ballistic. "On what the charges?!"

Hackett answered, his tone unrelenting and steely. "Your General is being charged with attacking a human colony without provocation and for the manslaughter of nearly 14,000 civilians."

Sparatus was raging, he stood up and slammed his talons onto the table. "This is unacceptable! If anything your entire race should be charged by our courts for breaking two Citadel laws: activating a Mass Relay without the consent of the Council and the use of nuclear weaponry."

"Laws our people knew nothing about." Hackett countered, his voice raised.

"And let's just assume I tolerate your charges for a minute. What proof do you have that he actually did commit these crimes!"

Hackett looked over to Admiral Greyson, who typed a few commands in a datapad before offering it to the Councilor. "This communication transcript was recovered between General Vitallios and Admiral Alnius. It states that the General was wiping out the planet's populace in accordance with Citadel protocol on dealing with a rogue nation."

Spartacus grabbed the datapad to examine its contents. The initial shock and horror on his face that he covered up instantly told Akira that the transcript was valid. "Th-this is not true, you have fabricated this evidence."

Greyson replies. "It was not fabricated, it was stored in the databanks of the Turian base on the planet." It was half a lie, the original copy had been found when Amelia, Greyson's AI, hacked the Turian databases in their fleet. The Sangheili ground force came across the copy later.

Tevos leaned over and whispered into her colleague's ear. "Sparatus control yourself. This is one man, versus the thousands of soldiers. If you refuse the trade, you could have riots on your hands. And I'm sorry to say this, but their evidence is compelling. That is our protocol - eliminate all those who defy Council law."

"And if I do, the military will never forgive me for betraying one of their own. There could be a coup for all I know if I go ahead with this." Sparatus hissed back.

"Sparatus," Valern joined in. "I don't think there's much choice here. Thousands of lives for one, I think the choice is obvious."

Sparatus looked angry, he looked like he was about to explode into a rage before he calmed himself down. "Very well. You can have him, but we want Admiral Alnius back." He knew that the Admiral's flagship was destroyed yet somehow hoped that he had survived.

"Your Admiral is dead." Thel answered back, "one of our ships destroyed the flagship and we detected no life pods of sorts."

Sparatus merely nodded in approval, he was reluctant enough to give a Turian General over. But at least he could try to make a martyr out of the Admiral.

Akira nodded. "The Hierarchy will also compensate in the form of reparations to the Federation for damages done to the colony and to our fleets. You will also cede one and a half lightyears of space around the Mass Relay which leads to our territory. I will remind you all again that there will be no exchange of technology, no tourism, no trade. Nothing. If any civilian ships cross the border, we will detain it and confiscate it. If any military ships cross the border, it will be considered an act of war. Any civilians we capture will be treated as spies and shot, military personnel will be imprisoned. We will leave an embassy here should you wish to contact us, but we will not put it on the Citadel. We will leave our own space station here that will act as our embassy, as well as a few of our ships to guard it. I warn you again, do not test us."

"Who are you to demand all this -" Sparatus said with a raised voice before Valern stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder reminding him that it was pointless to argue.

Akira stood up and placed her hands behind her back. "Make no mistake Councilors. Right now these terms are non-negotiable. And in case if you haven't noticed, I have two very powerful fleets parked right outside your Capital. On my command, my Admirals will willingly reduce your space station into nothing but slag fit for nowhere but the scrap yards should I wish it. Consider this a warning, do not mess with us. We'll return our prisoners once payment has been received. We want nothing to do with you, you keep to your side and we keep to ours; bar the small delegation here to act as a medium. Other than that, we're done here."

She keyed in a few commands on her datapad and a pair of marine guards walked in, assault rifles in hand. The Councilors stunned that they had just had their surrender dictated to them, stood up and walked out. Akira remained standing until they walked out, slumping down into her chair as the door closed.

"Well that went relatively well all things considered," Hackett said softly, Greyson nodded slowly with approval. "Madame President, I know you don't need me to state the obvious. But the stance you took paints the UNSC's standing on this perfectly."

Akira sighed, she knew she had to keep the military happy. "Be honest with me Admiral, if we had gotten into an all-out shooting war. What are our chances of winning."

Hackett looked to his colleague as if they were telepathically communicating. Greyson answered with a degree of confidence. "We would win the war ma'am, that much is certain. But it would be unnecessarily costly. We have seen how they fight in space, they fight with bravery and grit. According to ONI, each race still has plenty of fleets in reserve. Most of our fleets are still being replaced according to the modernisation program, very few of our fleets have been completely refitted with the newer vessels. In fact, the vast majority of the fleets still use modernised vessels from the Great War. And if the two space battles we fought are of any indication, those vessels do not fare as well as the newer models. It just so happens that my fleet, along with Hackett's, was recently refitted according to the shipyard schedules. So we would definitely win the war Madame President but we would pay a high price for it."

Akira nodded, "Very well, Winston. Inform the Captain to deploy the embassy outpost, once that is complete, fill it with enough of the staff. After that, we're ready to depart. See to it. Oh and set " She stood up and left the room, Admirals in tow.

As Winston stopped the recording and sent it to the archives to be stored. A tiny AI fragment intercepted and copied the file, before sending the signal down an intricate maze of circuitry and dark webspace. It travelled in places most AI's avoided, and given a ship the size of the _Cole_ , it's no surprise it was not detected. The signal finally reached a seemingly dormant communications dish, where it sprung to life, encrypting the signal before sending it at a seemly random bearing shooting straight into dark space. It was received by a small matte black satellite, which encrypted the file once again and sent it shooting towards deep space.

* * *

 **Citadel Tower, Citadel**

 **Serpent Nebula**

With a flash of brilliant light, the Human and Sangheili ships opened their mysterious FTL portals and disappeared into them leaving nothing but empty space where they once were. The Councilors had been returned to the Citadel following what can only be described as a humiliating surrender. The colossal Human vessel known as the _Preston Cole_ left behind a 'small' space station in the system, as dictated by the President of the Federation. The three-kilometre wide space station spun lazily on its central axis, surrounded by 10 Human and Sangheili ships. The surviving STG members were working around the clock to identify and class them, but with the limited information they had, it was giving them a hard time.

But no one on the Citadel was having a bad a day as the Councilors. Tevos lay back into her chair as Valern and Sparatus stood in front of her debating, her head throbbing from the massive headache she had.

"We need to militarise right now, build more ships, begin conscription, fortify our worlds. The whole package." Sparatus argued.

"Sparatus we know they hold superiority both in space and on the ground. What concerns me is how little we know of them, we must invest more into finding out more about them." Valern countered.

"We know that our weapons can hurt them, yes they might have technologically superior ships, but we have numbers."

"How do you know that for sure? For all we know they could have hundreds of thousands of ships parked in reserve."

"Then at least I'll die with my fellow Turians aboard our ships."

"Sparatus I've told you before information is power."

"Power is power Valern. There's no point in having all this intelligence if you don't have a dreadnought to blow them out of the sky."

"Even if we were to militarise, it would take years perhaps even decades for us to build strength to challenge them."

"Then I say we better get started. One call from me and shipyards all across the Hierarchy will begin churning out ships. With enough we could -"

"Enough!" Tevos yelled out, finally choosing to interject. Her fellow Councilors fell silent, taking her interjection as a cue to sit back down. "This Council was just handed its most humiliating defeat in its entire history. Our enemies will smell blood. The Batarians will challenge our authority even more and the Terminus Systems might even openly defy us. You are both right, we need to militarise and we need to find out more about them. This Council must reassert its dominance over our space and neighbouring regions, and only then will we consider challenging the Humans and the Sangheili."

"What do you propose then?" Sparatus asked, Valern simply nodded having the same question in mind.

"First of all, we need to dispatch fleets. One to the border with the Terminus systems, another to the border with the Batarians. If either of them protests, say it's military exercises. But in reality, they will just be there to show the flag." Tevos dictated, rather than suggested.

Sparatus rubbed his chin with his talons. "With the last two space battles, the Turian Navy is stretched thin. We lost a fleet above the human Colony, and effectively another right outside. The defence fleet is also in shambles. I will need to discuss this with the Primarch to see what he can arrange."

Tevos looked to Valern, "Valern I know our species has traditionally left the peacekeeping to the Turians. But I think that it's time we changed history. We should each dispatch a fleet to the border of the Terminus Systems. That will give the Turians more breathing room to police the Batarian border."

Valern thought about it for a moment. "Very well, I believe the Salarian Union can spare a fleet."

Tevos nodded in thanks. "I'll contact Thessia Command, we can scrounge enough ships to form a fleet."

Sparatus looked relieved, that the Turians would be able to continue their roles without stretching themselves too much. "My government will handle the reparations, we can afford it. Just."

"We will chip in a fair amount as well. We do things together here, and now more than ever we need to display unity." Tevos offered.

"The Salarian Union will also be willing to pay our share of the reparations," Valern added.

"Thank you both, the Hierarchy humbly accepts your offers. We will not forget this act of kindness." Sparatus replied half surprised but thankful. He wasn't expecting help in this considering his people had technically started all this.

"Now we need to look to the future. Our eventual goal should be to overtake the Humans and Sangheili and re-establish ourselves as the true galactic power. Are we in agreement on this?" Tevos asked, getting an answer with a pair of nods, she opened her omni-tool. "I'm sending you a list of things we need to seriously consider."

The other Councilors opened their own tools and started reading through the list. The list detailed a few normal things, increased defence expenditure, a larger budget for exploratory teams to go hunting for Prothean ruins, more funding for defence R&D, but there were a few things on the list which were a bit more controversial. And the other Councilors noticed that.

"Tevos, are you sure about this? You want to scrap the Treaty of Farixen?" Sparatus said, surprised. If anything he expected to be the one to suggest it, not the peace-loving Asari. "That treaty has kept the balance of power between us for centuries."

Tevos sighed. "Yes it has Sparatus. But with our new adversaries in play, we need all military power we can get. If the treaty was acting like a leash for you Sparatus, consider this as the Council removing the leash. We need as many dreadnoughts as we can build and we need them now."

Sparatus accepted that reasoning. "Very well. But there is the issue of resources as well, the Hierarchy has enough materials to build new ships, but not enough Element Zero to power them."

"Leave that to me, I'll get your Element Zero," Tevos replied, she would reach out to her contacts in the private sector and pull a few strings.

"No. No. Unacceptable." Valern interrupted. "This will not do."

"Valern, what is it?" Tevos asked though she suspected she already knew.

"Our new foreign policy," Valern said firmly. "I understand courting the Quarians and giving the Batarians concessions and possibly even outright conquering the Terminus Systems. But courting the Krogan? I know what that means Tevos, you want to enlist their help in exchange for a cure to the Genophage."

"We have no choice Valern. We are facing a ruthless enemy, to combat them we need some ruthlessness of our own." Sparatus argued, he saw the logic in employing some of the galaxy's best shock troops.

"A cure for the Genophage is too much. Do you all remember what happened the last time we failed to keep the Krogan in check? They rose in rebellion and it since then it has been the Genophage that has kept them under control." Valern argued out of fear, the Second Krogan Rebellion was the last thing they needed.

"Now that the Humans pointed out the atrocities our predecessors made. I think its time we invited the Krogan to join the wider galaxy in every manner." Tevos argued. "Valern we have to change with the times, or we will be left behind."

Valern looked at her, before switching his gaze to Sparatus, and then back to her. "Very well, I will instruct STG to begin looking for possible cures." He finally caved in.

Tevos let out a quiet sigh, it was a big ask to ask for a cure for the Genophage from the Salarians. "Now moving onto -"

As the Councilors continued their discussion, neither of them were aware that they were being watched and recorded. The AI transmitted a live recording of the meeting to a cloaked communications bouy at the edge of the system where it was encrypted and sent into deep space. Unknown to the Councilors, they're entire battle plan was being watched by strangers, strangers who had mastered the art of cloak and dagger.

* * *

 _Office of Naval Intelligence_

 _Clearance:_ Level 5 Black (ONI Senior Command ONLY)

 _Department:_ ONI Section 0

 _Report Subject:_ Memo on missing shipbuilding material from shipyard stockpiles.

 _Date Published:_ 20th February 2585

 _Note to the Admiralty boards of both the UNSC and ONI. According to the material stockpile reports that the shipyards and our agents are reporting, there is a percentage of inconsistency between them. Shipyards are reporting warehouses are at 90% capacity (expected for the UNSC's massive upcoming shipbuilding projects), but our agents on the ground are reporting 85% capacity. Normally 5% is an acceptable percentage given the circumstances, but this figure applies to nearly all of the shipyards contracted to produce ships for the UNSC._

 _Either that all the shipyards have a poor inventory manager, or someone is siphoning shipbuilding material away from these shipyards. Request to look further into this to determine the fault._

 _Date Updated:_ 21st February 2585

 _Request Denied. Authorisation Dare 039213._


	11. Chapter 11: A Necessary Evil

**Deep Space**

The tiny 50-meter long sloop decanted smoothly from the portal. At its size, the sloop was the smallest ship in service to carry a slipspace drive, albeit a scaled-down version, its purpose was simple: to ferry people from one location to another. Used mainly by the Navy and the Diplomatic Corps, they were the most economical options for transporting no more than 10 people over short distances. The most attractive aspect of the sloop is how easy it was to configure them. The Diplomatic Corps version carried a small living quarters area in the back, the Navy a slightly larger storage space; but for ONI, this ship was almost textbook perfect. Fast, customizable, and best of all - small. It was the perfect craft from getting personnel from one ONI base to another without a Prowler. The Office of Naval Intelligence had cramped the space where the living quarters or storage area would be with all the stealth equipment possible. There was just barely enough room to fit a scaled-down version of the cloaking generator, though a much less efficient version, and heat sinks to absorb the large amounts of heat given off by the generator and the slipspace drive.

David stirred from his sleep, checking the time. 0330 hours, synced to _Bastion_ , the massive space station that served as an anchorage to several UNSC fleets and ONI prowlers. After delivering Master Chief to the _Preston Cole_ in New Madrid, he was ordered to _Bastion_ for a debriefing. It was a routine affair, after asking a few questions and his report, they let him go. But receiving a high encrypted coded message in the middle of the night a few days later was not routine. The message left him with a set of coordinates along with a date and time, clear indications for a meeting and then promptly deleted itself after 60 seconds. He checked out a sloop and departed the station, slipping his way out with outgoing traffic. The necessity for the security was hinted in the message itself, but David was still an ONI Captain, he performed his tasks carefully and meticulously anyway.

The time he was given in the message was for 0330. David checked the time again, positive that he had read it right the first time. Then he checked the coordinates and cross-referenced them to the coordinates which he memorized. They were correct. He checked the scanners and scanned out the viewport; nothing. He slumped back into the chair, contemplating his next move. He could go back to _Bastion_ , but if this was a meeting he was supposed to attend and he went back, it would not spell out well for his career. He fidgeted around, twiddling his thumbs, for an hour. He checked the scanners again, there was nothing. He was starting to wonder if this was a prank from his higher-ups when his console started beeping.

There in front of him, a vessel decloaked. As dark as space itself, David could only just make its outline out by the stars, or rather the absence of them. The vessel's hull blocking the view of some of the distant stars with its hull. Years of ONI training unconsciously kicked in, his eyes struggling to analyse every inch of the hull.

No name, no identification number, no running lights, engines were running at such low power that they were barely producing any light. It was at least the size of a light cruiser, but he struggled to recall any cruiser sized vessels that ONI operated. All this screamed ONI, but not the ONI David knew. This had all the trademarks of the ONI that operated during the Great War, the late Admiral Parangosky's ONI, the masters of subterfuge. The ONI David knew was more open, liberal, they didn't need for all this cloak and dagger. He had heard rumours of the stealth cruiser that operated during the war, the UNSC _Point of No Return_ , but that was all they were - rumours.

A ping on the communications console announced to David that he was being hailed, with some concern he answered it.

A distorted voice came over the speakers, "Unknown sloop, identify yourself."

David cleared his throat. "This is Captain David Anderson, identity code Delta Alpha Zulu Tango 96, aboard the sloop _Hive_."

There was a short silence that lasted only a few seconds, but to him, it felt like an eternity before he heard the voice again. "Confirmed. Dock in Hangar 2 and someone will be there to meet you."

David was just about to ask where the hangar was, because as far as he could see - well, he couldn't see anything. As he opened his mouth, a handful of running lights on the vessel turned on, showing a rough outline of the hanger. David manoeuvred the sloop into the hangar, deploying its landing gear before exiting the craft. As he walked down the ramp, he noted how the hangar itself was barely occupied. A pair of matte black Pelicans and a few ground crew were its only occupants, apart from an ONI Lieutenant that waited at the bottom of the ramp.

"Captain Anderson, please follow me." The Lieutenant instructed, giving nothing away with his voice. There was nothing on his uniform that indicated which branch of ONI he worked for, there was no insignia of any sort.

David followed him through a labyrinth of corridors, each one as empty as it could be. At one point he tried asking about the ship itself, he got silence as an answer. They reached a door with a pair of guards on it, like the Lieutenant, they had nothing which indicated which branch they worked for. They asked David to surrender his sidearm along with any electronic devices he had on him. Only when he passed them to the Lieutenant did they let him in. The moment he stepped in, he snapped off a crisp salute when he realised who was in the room: a pair of gentleman who he did not recognise along with a pair of admirals who he did.

"Admiral Osman, Admiral Dare."

Osman returned his salute, before gesturing to an empty chair. "Sit down Captain, we have a lot to discuss. But first, this is Captain Ayter, responsible for procurements and requisitions. Next to him is Jack Harper, for all intents and purposes, he's a civilian."

As David pulled out a chair, Admiral Dare spoke to the room. "I would like to remind you all that this meeting is classified at the highest levels. This meeting never happened, you were never here and this ship most certainly does not exist. Failure to comply with any of this will be punishable by death under the penalty of treason" She paused for a moment, letting the seriousness of her threat settle in. "We are here to discuss the necessary action required to take against the Citadel Council. Captain Anderson, to bring you up to speed is a datapad in front of you, read it but do listen in as well."

As the Head of ONI continued, David opened the datapad. It contained intelligence on the Citadel Council's likely moves and even a full recording of the 'negotiations' between them and the President Akira. From courting the Quarians, reeling in the Batarians, curing the Genophage to even outright subjugating the Terminus Systems, it had everything. As he browsed through its contents quickly, he half-listened into the Admiral Dare's brief.

"As most of you now know, during the Battle of the Citadel, ONI agents were able to insert an AI into the Citadel mainframe. We now have access to every scrap of information they have, no matter how classified it is. Following the negotiations, if you can call it that, with President Akira, the Citadel Council has begun devising a plan to consolidate their strength with the intent on challenging humanity in the future for dominance of the galaxy." She paused for a moment, almost as if hesitant. "Whether we like it or not, the Citadel Council is currently the third most dangerous threat after the Flood and the Sangheili Union. The first we haven't seen in decades now, but we must remain vigilant. The second is our close allies, but remember that our militaries are of similar strength, and should the day come when we have to go to war with each other again, we must have the initiative." She gestured to Admiral Osman to continue.

"Seeing as the Citadel Council is a more recent adversary, we will focus our attention on them." She swept her eyes across the three men in the room. "You three are here today to ensure that the Citadel Council is kept in check. You will conduct black ops in Citadel space, everything ranging from asset denial to assassination. However those will be your secondary tasks, your primary objective is to ensure that the Citadel Council never get their hands on a single Forerunner artefact or structure. If they do, god knows what could happen."

David had to interject, his question had been on his mind ever since he boarded. "Admirals, forgive me for interrupting. But I was under the impression that ONI had become more liberal, I understand that all this cloak and dagger activity within Federation space continued; but the interference of another government's activities in foreign territory, I thought that ceased with the death of your predecessor Admiral Dare."

Admiral Osman looked to her superior, who nodded. "Well if we're going to ask him to do this he might as well know." The head of ONI said, with a hint of sympathy.

Osman turned back to Anderson, her eyes shooting a glare so sharp it would have gone straight through the armour plating of a battleship and kept going. "Well Captain, on paper, yes ONI is definitely more liberal. On the surface, we relegated ourselves to simple intelligence gathering because the Spartan program shone too much light on us, too many organisations were keeping us in check so we had to rebrand ourselves. But in the dark, in the shadows, that is where ONI does its best work, we just had to be even more careful and meticulous with our methods. The Federation has experienced peace for decades now not because the President's policies are working by themselves, but because ONI has been fighting dozens of small shadow wars on all fronts. Do you believe in our duty to safeguard humanity Captain?"

Anderson nodded.

"Do you really think that everyone is as happy as the government and the news says they are? Of course not, there are dissidents everywhere. There are insurgents and insurrectionists in the colonies who still wish for independence from the Federation. To preserve the unity of humanity, these dissidents, or at least the important ones, meet with...unfortunate accidents. The Citadel Council, however, they are a different problem. They aren't individuals clamouring for the destruction of humanity, they are a government clamouring for our destruction. The Navy has already proved that it is superior, but now that hostilities between our people have ended, it is our job to keep them on the back foot. Let's not even start about what could happen if the Council get their hands on a Forerunner site. They do not have the experience to contain the Flood if there is an outbreak. Captain Anderson we are asking you to head this up because you have proven that you are a capable commander who appreciates the need for discretion."

"But why me?"

"Your record says it all. The terrorist cell on Reach, the assassination of the insurgent leader on Harmony, the discovery of illegal Union weapon smuggling on Harvest, containment of the Flood on the Forerunner installation in Coral. I could go on and on listing your accomplishments Captain, the simple truth is you are the right man for the job. I know this is not what you signed on to ONI to, but I also know that you will never forgo your duty to humanity. Right now this is where your call to duty lies. Will you accept the job?"

David thought hard. It was true that interfering in another government's affairs was not what he had signed up to do. But he signed up to protect humanity. He thought back to his earlier days at the UNSC Naval Academy on Earth - where he initially trained for warship command before ONI approached him. Regardless they all swore the same oath, to protect humanity from all threats: home and abroad. If this is where his call to duty was, then he would answer it, no matter the personal cost.

"I'll do it." He finally answered, nodding his head.

Osman's lips widened slightly, turning into a slight smile. She respected the position she was putting him in. "Very well Captain. You will command a force of three prowlers, and we will unleash you behind enemy lines. But remember, anything you do cannot be linked back to us. If you are caught, we will categorically deny any existence of you and your personnel, for now, expect no direct help from the rest of the UNSC or Federation. Of course for an operation like this, you will be detached from ONI command. You take orders from no one except from myself and Admiral Osman. The Captain will oversee your requisition requests, anything from foodstuffs to boots to armaments, he will take care of it. Mr Harper here has a talent of...managing funds from the private and public sectors, your funding will come through him."

Admiral Dare continued, "You will need a replacement to take command of your prowler because you are getting a new command Captain." She still managed to say that with enough spook in her tone, despite the message being innocent enough. But that was ONI in a nutshell.

David raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Dare gestured around her, "This. This ship will be your new command. Captain Anderson, I formally introduce you to the UNSC _Event Horizon_. We've been building this ship over the last decade and she may be new but she has quite a legacy to live up to. This light cruiser sized vessel is nearly double the size of a Gobi class prowler. She is equipped with the latest communications and stealth equipment as well as a large enough ground compliment to handle any of your larger black ops. No race we know off has the ability to detect her when she is running silent, we tested it when we parked over Sanghelios for a fortnight and no one noticed. Even if you are detected, this is the first vessel able to fight its way out. She has the armaments equivalent to a Navy light cruiser, and she can take punishment as well her honeycombed interior structure inspired from the _Pillar of Autumn_ , combined with hard light shields she's a tough nut to crack. I know this is an oxymoron for a stealth vessel, but we learnt our lesson from her predecessor. The _Event Horizon_ will serve as your command vessel and you report directly to me."

"Very well Admiral," David paused for a moment, "Admiral what do you mean her predecessor?" He knew exactly what he was referring to, and his superiors knew it.

"You know very well what I'm referring to Captain. I am aware of the rumours moving about in my own organisation." Dare replied coldly. "The _Point of No Return_ was lost with all hands when Covenant Remnants stumbled upon her by accident. Stealth tech at the time was good, but not perfect."

David simply nodded, simply accepting that it was all the information he was going to get at his rank. "Admirals, will UNSC HIGHCOM be aware of our activities in Citadel Space? What are our orders should we encounter UNSC forces?"

The Admiral's reply was to the point. "We will keep some in HIGHCOM notified, mainly the top brass. As for your second question, do your best to avoid being caught by regular troops and avoid the confrontation altogether."

"Understood Admiral." That was all David could think to say, he needed time to process all this.

As Osman and Dare started making for the door, Dare turned around. "Captain one more thing, your command will need a name. Can you think of one?"

Anderson pondered for a moment, "Cerberus." He finally said. "We will be humanity's guard-dog to the gates of hell ma'am."

Dare grinned, "Good choice Captain, you all shall be the three heads of Cerberus. Take good care of this ship, she's new. But most importantly, remember your duty to humanity and guard us all well Cerberus. The underworld is proving to be a dangerous and unwelcoming place for us."

* * *

 **UNSC _Reach_ , Dauntless class Dreadnought**

 **Relay 314, Deep Space**

Athena stared out the observation viewport, gazing at the active Mass Relay that lay in the distance. Now that she had been looking at it for a while, it was a beautiful sight. An ancient structure shaped like a tuning fork with a bright blue core in the centre with rings rotating and spinning around it - of course what made the view even better was the massive UNSC fleet that surrounded the Mass Relay. The UNSC and Union ships had gathered here after the Battle of the Citadel which could only be concluded as a decisive victory for the allies. The two massive titans, the Super-Dreadnought _Preston Cole_ and the Union Supercarrier _Icon of Sanghelios_ moved side by side, the multitude of engines giving off a glorious blue that burned brightly against the black space. Surrounding them like a swarm of bees protecting their queen, were the smaller vessels of the fleet.

"Admiral?" A familiar voice came from behind her, breaking her train of thought.

She turned around, to see her orange coloured AI standing on her pedestal, hands clasped behind her back. "We are receiving a transmission from Bastion, it's got Lord Admiral Hood's ID attached to it," Amelia said informingly.

"I'll take it in my ready room Amelia, thank you," Athena replied, smiling.

It was a short walk from the forward observation deck to her ready room, located in the bridge. As Athena walked through the shiny grey corridors, repair crews were running around replacing overloaded circuits and conduits. The scars of battle still present, given away by the slight char some of the crew still had on their uniforms. The final casualty lists had come in, at last, over 70 ships destroyed with hundreds of others suffering from battle damage. Just over a tenth of the UNSC force was lost, though Athena noticed it was mainly the smaller escorts like frigates and destroyers. They had lost a pair of carriers though, the _Icebreaker_ and _Hornet_ both fell victim to suicide attacks from Turian ships. The casualty count was in the thousands, excluding the Marines. Given the circumstances, it could have been a lot higher. Of course, UNSC and Union forces had been very thorough in their clean-up post-battle, not a single trace of UNSC tech was left behind for the Citadel races to reverse engineer.

She returned the salute of bridge marine guards as she stepped through the blast doors. It was relieving to feel the calm organised atmosphere that dominated the bridge, compared to the chaos during battle. Captain Duellos was busy managing the ships damage control parties, sending them to places where they were necessary. A fragment of Amelia was giving instructions to docking a Mobile Repair Dock, while another supervised the training of a junior officer. Athena entered her ready room, her private shipboard office, and keyed in the necessary codes.

As the room sealed itself and activated its espionage suite, the holograms of Lord Hood and Admiral Hackett appeared in front of her. Lord Hood noticed her first.

"Ah Admiral Greyson, good of you to join us. Now that you are here we can begin." He said, "First of all, well done to both of you, your victory at the Citadel put us in the position we needed to be in. But now onto business of maintaining security. Admiral Hackett, your fleet is needed on the Kig-Yar front. We're getting reports of Kig-Yar pirates commandeering old Covenant-era warships and raiding our shipping lanes between the Outer Colonies and Sanghelios. Put an end to them."

"We will depart immediately Lord Hood." Hackett replied, "However, I must requisition for more escort ships, a fair number of mine were lost at the Battle of the Citadel. Cruisers and battleships are all well and good in a fleet battle, but policing actions, I need smaller ships for that."

The ageing Head of the UNSC looked down at a datapad he was clutching. "I will see to your request, your reinforcements will meet you at Madrigal. Dismissed."

Admiral Hackett snapped off a quick salute before his hologram disappeared.

Hood turned to Athena, "Admiral your task now is to patrol the border with Citadel Space. Now that we have a formal border, you and your fleet will be responsible for protecting it. Not the most glamorous of tasks I know but a necessary one I assure you."

Athena's heart sank, though she managed to hide her disappointment from her superior. Patrol and border duty were not exactly the most exhilarating tasks, it was rather dull. "Very well Lord Hood, I will deploy border patrols within the hour."

The hologram of Lord Hood nodded. "As per the terms agreed between the Citadel and the Federation, they have ceded 1.5 lightyears worth of territory with the Mass Relay as a centre point. After discussing with the Admiralty and civilian leadership, we've decided to construct a deep spaceport around the Relay. Over the next few months to a year, we will build a space station there from scratch that will serve as your base of operations. It will have all the necessary facilities to maintain a fleet, warehouses, berths, a small maintenance shipyard, the works. We will also leave you the necessary defences to protect the station. PMAC guns, fighter craft, point defence systems, the whole package. Should we ever go to war in Citadel space again, it will serve as our staging ground. Its protection is of the utmost importance."

Athena nodded, it was clear that her posting was an important one, no matter how boring it might get.

"The Union will be returning to their own space. The _Preston Cole_ and her escorts will be returning to Earth to bring President Nakaruma home. Your replacements will be dispatched to you soon. Remember our standing with the Citadel Council Admiral, no ship crosses the border. None. Hood out." He left a short salute which Athena replied before his hologram faded from existence.

Understanding her orders, Athena left her ready room and reentered the bridge. She walked over the Captain Duellos, standing by the holotable in the centre of the bridge. "Captain, status report."

"We have docked with the MRD _Freyja_ and are currently undergoing repairs and replenishment. Replenishment of the ships ammunition stores should be completed in the next two hours. Repairs to all internal circuitry will be done within the hour. As for damage to the exterior hull, the disruptor torpedoes did quite a bit of damage to the front of the ship, sizeable chunks of the hull are missing. Freyja's dockmaster tells me that repairs will be done within the next two days, they have to cut down the damaged bits of hull plating and replace them with new plates. We're also being transferred replacement Broadsword fighters and bombers to replace the ones we lost at the Citadel. As for the rest of the fleet, most are conducting what repairs they can on their own, the more serious damages are being attended to by the other MRDs in the fleet."

Athena tapped a few buttons on the holotable, pulling up a 3D hologram of the ship, damaged sections highlighted in red. She studied the damage to her flagship before accepting it. "Very well, Captain. Keep me updated. Amelia?"

The AI appeared on the table. "Yes, Admiral?"

"Get me 20 ships equipped with mines and sensor buoys and instruct them to begin laying our side of the border. Once that is complete, have them start patrolling the border."

"It shall be done, Admiral."

Athena walked over the front of the bridge and stared through the hardened glass. In the distance, ships were moving all over the place. Hackett's fleet was vectoring off in one direction, the Union in another, the Preston Cole's massive engines glowed brighter as she pulled away from her fellow titan in the Union fleet. Almost as if it was planned, they opened their slipspace portals in sync, the blinding white portals opening before vessels disappeared into them. Soon they had all gone, each ship to a different destination. Madrigal, Sanghelios, Earth.

If the intelligence briefs from ONI were right, the Salarian STG would try to probe the space soon. Perhaps maybe even sneak a probe or even a warship over if they're feeling bold. Regardless, if they were caught on the UNSC side of the border, they would be destroyed. Athena was hesitant to call humanity xenophobic, the measures that were being taken may have been a bit extreme. But to earn humanity's friendship, you first had to earn its trust. The Citadel Council had done everything contrary to earning that trust. At the end of the day it all came down to the fact that the average human just wanted peace, but not at the expense of compromising their security.

* * *

 **UNSC _Event Horizon_ , Parangosky class Prowler**

 **Deep Space**

David had spent the last few hours since the Admiral's departure reading brief after brief on his task. He first tried getting his hands on any material regarding his ship, there wasn't much, most of it was redacted documents for ONI's top brass only. There was a little bit here and there about siphoning resources from Navy contracted shipyards, but besides that, there wasn't much. Similar armaments to a light cruiser - a PMAC gun, missile launchers, CIWS guns, a few deck guns. There was no fighter compliment, that space was taken up by an over-sized cloaking device. 10 modified Pelicans were the only craft the Event Horizon carried. Her compliment was just over 1500, including the BLACKOPS teams that were on board. It even had a few vehicles, from Warthogs to a pair of the prototype Oliphants. It was almost like a private army.

He had already contacted Shepard, who was now en route with David's old command. He intended to give Shepard command of the Prowler, she was ready for the command. The other two Prowlers had arrived not too long ago, the Loki and Silence were now in formation around their larger cousin. David still thought a light cruiser sized vessel was overkill for a stealth vessel, but he could appreciate its uses. Of course, they were all cloaked so to any onlooker, they would have seen nothing.

A chime sounded from his door. "Come in," he said without taking his eyes off the intelligence brief on the Quarian Migrant Fleet. He was sympathetic to the nomadic people, given the circumstances that happened to them.

Captain Ayter walked in, Jack Harper following close behind. David also did a bit more digging on their backgrounds, he didn't get much though. From the bits that weren't redacted in the Captain service records, he had served ONI nearly as long as David had. Graduate of the Corbulo Academy, he was originally slated to join the ODSTs as a command officer, before he was snatched by ONI. Assigned to captain a Prowler, he built up a rather long obscure list of contacts throughout Federation and Union space. The list was useful in putting down insurrectionists throughout the Outer Colonies a few years later - where he managed to do so without ever leaving a single trace linking them to ONI. Not even Section 0 could link it to the rest of ONI, to them it looked like a completely independent private operation. To ONI top brass, he was the perfect man to procure material through his extensive contact lists, ranging from black market arms suppliers to mercenaries. But this amount of information proved plentiful compared to Jack Harper.

There was nothing on him on any database David had access to. He was quite literally a ghost. Financial records, addresses, service record, family tree, phone records. There was nothing. David couldn't even find a single parking ticket to the man. No trace of him existed, at least digitally. To David, this was all highly irregular, especially for a man who was a civilian. All he had was Admiral's Dare brief description of the man; a civilian with particular skills for sourcing funds from the public and private sectors.

"You asked for us, Captain Anderson?" Harper asked, his voice as mysterious as the man himself.

"Yes, I wanted to discuss Cerberus's strategy with you," David replied, gesturing to a small table on the other side of the room, inviting them to sit down. As the trio moved towards the table, he continued. "You all know our mission and what it entails. According to our intelligence, the Council is trying to build up their own strength, mainly through alliances. Any suggestions bearing in mind our resources?"

The conversation dragged on for hours, each man having something different to say about a topic. Harper wanted to steal the Genophage research from the STG and use it to make their own cure, arguing that it will win the Krogan's gratitude. Ayter countered with the fact that the Krogan would never agree to be subordinate to the UNSC, they were too proud a people for that. The counter-argument was Krogans respected strength - something the UNSC did not lack. David argued for a push with the Quarians, stating that they would be good allies to have. His colleagues disagreed, noting that unless if their core principles regarding AI changed, they will never agree to ally themselves with a faction that makes such heavy use of them. Regardless of their own opinions, it was the consensus of the trio that the Council cannot get their hands on anything Forerunner.

Across the Federation, ONI scientists were scouring Forerunner sites looking for anything that might hint Forerunner sites in Citadel space. They had a few leads so far, mainly Forerunner outposts on the random planet, but nothing major. The splitting of Cerberus's resources was trickier. The few Prowlers they had would be spread out across Council space conduct missions of sabotage while the _Event Horizon_ would move from location to location securing Forerunner sites.

Harper and Captain Ayter left shortly after, going about their own individual tasks. Harper went to secure funding for the endeavours Cerberus would be undertaking deep into Citadel space. Captain Ayter starting going through his list of contacts finding crew, munitions and vehicles for the _Event Horizon_. While it may have been a new ship, it was currently running on a skeleton crew, it was probably rushed from whatever deep space ONI dock it was at. David headed to the bridge, walking through dimly lit grey corridors, thinking to himself about the mission he was just given. Convincing Shepard to do all this cloak and dagger activity would be interesting, she was a woman of principle, just like him. But shared David's perspective that the security of humanity came first.

He was counting on her carrying out her duty in the greater interests of human security. Since the Admiral Dare and Osman's departure some hours ago, he had debated with himself the morals of this mission. It certainly did not compromise his government's position, President Nakamura technically never did restrict BLACKOPS in Citadel Space, but nor did she approve any. It did not contradict the orders of his superiors seeing as they were the ones to give it to him. It may have contradicted with a few of his beliefs, but it didn't matter. Duty came first.

An updated intelligence brief from ONI headquarters arrived just now, having gone through nearly eight times as much decrypting as most ONI documents. The ONI brass was keeping Cerberus really under the wraps, from what David knew, fewer than 10 people outside Cerberus knew what was going on, and not a single person in the civilian government knew. While that was definitely not protocol, David understood his superior's decision, the last thing they needed was civilian interference in a BLACKOPS. Since the end of hostilities at the Battle of the Citadel almost a week ago, the amount of actionable intelligence that had come out of the Citadel was shocking. The intelligence brief detailed the latest communique's between the Citadel Council and their respective governments. The Salarian Dalatrass was informing Councilor Valern that the STG was exploring all possible options for a cure for the Genophage, the Turians were ramping up ship production by over 200%, and the Asari just increased their defence expenditure. What was also interesting was the memo attached to the brief, it detailed rallies and protests all across Citadel space. Some were against the drastic rearmament of the Citadel Council, but most were in support of it. That was not a good sign, it was almost worrying, that the UNSC had just united all the Citadel species under a single cause - to eliminate the common threat to them: humanity. Even the peace-loving Asari were joining in, furious that their once galaxy-wide dominant position was snatched from them and they were shoved down to third place after the Federation and Union.

David sighed to himself, realising the position his organisation was in. The Navy had its hands tied by the politicians on Earth, clamouring to maintain a strict policy of isolationism from the Citadel and its associated governments. Cerberus would be on its own operating in what they considered enemy territory. But should word of their actions ever reach the ears of the politicians, ONI would most likely be disbanded or reorganised - no matter how much denying they did. The civilians were obviously scared when an intelligence agency had too much power - they had experienced it before. The lies, deception and fear that dominated UNSC space during the time of Parangosky was something humanity did not wish to repeat. Hence the demand for the secrecy. Quite frankly his superiors normally wouldn't have a problem with the military knowing, provided they could keep a secret. But it was the civilians they were worried about. Ever since Lord Hood surrendered emergency powers back to the civilian government at the end of the Great War, ONI had more light shone on it than it would have liked.

Finally reaching the bridge, he stepped through the blast doors into a world of familiarity. The bridge layout of the _Event Horizon_ was not all that different from the other prowlers in the fleet, a command chair in the centre with consoles aligned running along the circumference of a semi circle. A large holo-table sat just in front of the command chair, its blue holographic light currently displaying sensor readings in their local star system. The forward viewport displayed the systems local star, burning brightly against the dark backdrop of space. With the _Event Horizon_ in stealth mode, only those with the sharpest eyes or the most sophisticated sensors would have any idea of the small Cerberus task force that was present.

"Captain, new contact entering the system. Silent exit." His sensor officer called out, "pennant code registers it as the Prowler _In Plain Sight."._

Shepard was here. David walked to the forward viewscreen and looked out to where his former command was. He squinted his eyes, looking for any sign of the prowler. Cloaking system aboard ONI vessels had advanced significantly to the point that it was almost impossible to tell when one of their own exited slipspace, especially if they were operating in complete stealth mode. At the corner of his eye, a tiny bit off space got brighter for a split second. There, where the light from the local star refracted slightly with the prowlers cloaking field. He stared at the region of space, analysing every millimetre of it before he saw slight distortion that outlined the prowler. Now all he had to do was convince Shepard to join him, it should not be too hard a task.

In his mind.

* * *

 _Office of Naval Intelligence_

 _Clearance:_ Level 6 (ONI Senior Admiralty)

 _Department:_ Cerberus

 _Report Subject:_ Potential actions against Citadel Council

 _Date Published: 20th January 2592_

 _Citadel-Quarian relations:_ There was little love between the two races but now with the introduction of humanity and the Union on a galactic stage, the Citadel races need more ships. The Quarians have one of the largest, if not largest fleets in region. Granted most are civilian ships but all are armed to some extent. The Quarian people themselves are remarkable, possibly the best mechanics the galaxy, understandable given their circumstances. They might even give the Huragok a run for their money. The Council has already invited a Quarian delegation to the Citadel. There are several options available to Cerberus command to counter this: including the destruction of the Quarian transport, sabotage the meeting, or give the Quarians good reason not to rejoin the Citadel. Integration of the Quarian species into the Federation is unlikely for the time being, but an alliance definitely possible.

 _Genophage_ : What the Council did to the Krogan is unforgivable. Genetic, chemical warfare, that itself is something we thought we would never see again. Even the Covenant were kind enough to just kill us using conventional means (if you consider plasma weaponry conventional). The STG is currently working on a cure for it, the project is headed up by a Salarian sympathetic to the Krogan's plight. Depending on which route Cerberus command opts to pursue, the assassination of the STG project leader is recommended, or commencing remote data wipes using our super skills in cyber warfare. Another option would be to turn the Krogan into our allies by developing a cure ourselves, however a Krogan would be needed as well as the STG's base research data.

There are also rumours of a Turian WMD on the Krogan homeward, this will be investigated further.

 _Citadel-Batarian_ _relations:_ The Batarians should be wiped out. Period. Any species that practices the ideas of slavery in this day and age (considering their technological standing) is nothing short of barbaric. The destruction of Batarians is possible, but would need to be carried out with the UNSC Navy given the size of the operation. Destruction of the Batarians would remove a potential force that the Council could get their hands on. The Batarian Fleet is a force to be reckoned with, eliminating it would go a long way to ensuring the security of the Federation. There are a few ideas on how to ensure that, but they are controversial, will discuss with Cerberus command.

 _Element Zero Shipments:_ Vast quantities of the precious element are being mined in the Terminus Systems before being shipped off to various Citadel shipyards. An option to disrupt this crucial supply line would be to pose as mercenaries and conduct hit and run raids on the shipments. Commerce raiding in essence.

 _Forerunner assets:_ Under no circumstances are the Citadel races allowed to get their hands on anything remotely Forerunner. ONI researchers have identified several sites in Citadel space that need securing. To maintain a minimal human and Cerberus presence, automated defences will be used, primarily in the structures local Sentinel garrison. In the event that those are not available, the site or asset will be destroyed.

* * *

 **AN:** **I know there was some argument about whether to bring Cerberus into this story. After debating both sides of the argument, I ultimately decided to. But remember that Cerberus in the Mass Effect Universe does not have to be the same as Cerberus in a Halo Universe. Note that in the ME Universe, Cerberus was there to ensure human supremacy. Compared to the Halo Universe, where human supremacy is almost ensured, thus the goals of Cerberus can be changed. Plus this is also my way of interpreting what Cerberus could have been in another Universe. Rather than undermining humanity in the ME universe, it can be seen as the necessary evil to maintain human dominance in the Halo universe.**

 **As for why make it another branch of ONI compared to ONI doing all the dirty work themselves, it would simply be easier for ONI to disassociate themselves from Cerberus if needed. They can claim that Cerberus was a rogue operation without the support or knowledge of ONI high command.**

 **In short, if you aren't happy with it, I'm sorry about it. That being said, I hope you can understand why I brought it in.**


	12. Chapter 12: Options

**AN: Sorry for how long this Chapter took in comparison to the others. All I can say is I hope it is up to standard. Please if you spot any errors, please PM me and I will address them. Also, if any of you are interested to read future Chapters of this story before they get publicly released, I am looking for one or two people to proof read them and to provide criticism. PM me if you are interested, thanks.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the Chapter, please feel free to leave your opinion and thoughts on the story so far.**

* * *

 **Citadel**

 **Serpent Nebula**

It had been a fortnight since the Human and Sangheili invasion of the Citadel, since then, defensive measures around the space station had soared considerably. The Serpent Nebula now looked nothing like itself a fortnight ago. The battle wreckage had been cleaned up and all the damage had been repaired. The surviving ships were all present bar a few, namely the _Destiny Ascension_ which managed to limp to an Asari shipyard to undergo major repairs. Turian reinforcements, diverted from other sectors, arrived to replace the shattered defense fleet, bolstering it's numbers significantly. The Citadel defense fleet, now several thousand strong, was once again a force to be reckoned with. That wasn't the only change, orbital defences were being constructed in the form of orbital hangars, minefields and small weapon platforms. Then of course there was what the humans left behind, their embassy, a full station on its own, along with a small flotilla of warships to act as 'embassy guards'. Their dull grey and black exterior hulls clashed with the silver-white of the Citadel as they hung lazily some distance from the much larger space station. But today was different from the routine that had settled in over the last two weeks, a small flotilla of ships was present in the space and docked with the Citadel, ships that hadn't been seen by many for hundreds of years. For the first time in generations, Quarian vessels were docked in the Citadel.

"Admirals, welcome to the Citadel. It is an honor to have you -" Tevos announced before a voice from the floor below her cut in.

"Spare us the pleasantries Councilor. What do you want?" Admiral Gerrel almost spat back, his voice filled his hostility as it echoed through the Council chambers. It was clear that he still held animosity against the Council who expelled his people centuries ago.

"Han'Gerrel. Control yourself." Admiral Raan quickly quieted him. "Apologies Councilor, Admiral Han'Gerrel's Heavy Fleet has had the stressful job of constantly protecting the fleet from all those who seek to harm the Migrant Fleet. The result has left him on edge." She shot a look at the Councilor Sparatus, there had been reports of minor skirmishes between the Heavy Fleet and Turian border patrols.

"No apologies are necessary Admiral. We in the Citadel appreciate the Quarian Heavy Fleet and the Quarian people's efforts in keeping the Geth contained to the Perseus Veil." Tevos replied diplomatically. Out of the corner of her eye she spied Sparatus shooting her a look. She knew what he was thinking, the sheer amount of diplomatic sucking up she was doing was beyond unusual.

Admiral Raan looked to her fellow admirals on the Quarian Admiralty Board. There was Admiral Han'Gerrel, commanded the Heavy Fleet, the main fighting component of the Quarian Migrant Fleet formed from whatever cruisers and frigates they had left. Admiral Zaal'Koris headed up the Civilian Fleet, responsible for the protection of the 17 million Quarians. Admiral Daro'Xen headed up the special projects division, one of the more controversial but necessary branches of the Migrant Fleet. Shala'Raan'Raan herself commanded the Patrol Fleet, the eyes and first line of defense of the Quarian people - its frigates and scouts always at the periphery of the massive formation. Since the Quarians were expelled from their homeworld of Rannoch centuries earlier followed by their later alienation from the Citadel, they had been forced to be a nomadic people. The estimated 40,000 ships of the Migrant Fleet had wandered the stars, going from system to system strip mining it to the bare to obtain resources necessary to maintain the massive fleet. For this the Council had loved to use the Quarians as scapegoats for just about anything negative, infrastructure failure, local economic recession were a few examples.

Admiral Raan finally looked back up to the Councilors. "While I do not approve of how my colleague phrased his words, he does have a point. For centuries you have treated our people like the bane of the galaxy. All of a sudden you start playing nice to us? Councilor Tevos don't play the Asari Diplomat card with us, you've frequently spoken out against us. It's clear you want to ask something of us, the fact that you aren't flat out demanding anything outright reinforces that. Something so major that you know appeasing us is crucial. So Councilors, I ask you, what do you want of the Quarian people?"

Tevos shut her eyes for a second, carefully carefully crafting her reply. "For centuries, the Citadel has treated the Quarian people without the necessary amount of respect that is expected from our office. I cannot speak for our predecessors. But now, on the behalf of the Citadel and all its citizens, we would like to offer our most sincere apologies for how you have been treated by us." The Quarian admirals bowed their heads slightly in acceptance. "You are right Admiral Raan, we do have need for the Quarian people. Quite frankly, we need your ships, and your people's expertise in engineering and mining."

Behind their visors, it was impossible to read their facial expressions. But from the slight recoil that the Quarians had, Tevos guessed that they were shocked at how desperate the Council was. Normally she would have hidden her agenda for a longer period of time, but these were desperate times. The Quarian Migrant Fleet will go a long way in re-establishing the Councils power and prestige. To her knowledge, Quarian engineers were second to none, and their ability to strip mine worlds with such efficiency was unheard off. And if the STG intelligence reports were accurate, every single vessel in the Fleet was armed, even the civilian ones. That's over 40,000 warships that could supplement their fleets, thus bolstering the Citadels assets considerably. One could only imagine how many logistical nightmares they could solve when they have access to the Quarian Fleet.

"This is because of the humans and their ally isn't it?" Admiral Koris voiced up. News of the disastrous defeat at the Battle of the Citadel had spread like wildfire, it wasn't surprising that the Quarians had heard of it.

"How did you find out?" Valern asked curiously. It was intended as a curious survey style question rather than an actual question.

"Thousands of ships destroyed, the _Destiny Ascension_ in drydock, C-Sec effectively wiped out, the Council held hostage and had terms dictated to them. Not exactly a state secret." Admiral Gerrel replied, emphasizing the Council's recent humiliation.

Valern simply nodded. "Then you know the threat that humanity and its ally present to all of us."

"With the recent losses, the Turian Fleet is stretched thin Admirals. We need you now more than ever. Thus, we, the Council humbly invites the Quarian people back into the Citadel." Sparatus added.

"Councilors, thank you. But I have to ask, in exchange for our skills and our ships, what will you give us?" Admiral Koris asked after taking a few seconds to recover from the initial shock, as commander of the civilian fleet, their well-being was his primary concern.

"For now, re-establishing your embassy and perhaps in a few years, a seat on the Council. You shall access to all government shipyards and drydocks across Citadel Space." Tevos paused for a moment in preparation for her bombshell. "And this system for you to colonize."

She opened her Omni-tool, keying in a few commands to bring up a holographic map. It showed a star system, more than 10 larger planetary bodies orbiting a Class G2 star. "This system was discovered years ago, but only surveyed recently. It's on the fringes of the Galaxy sharing a border with the Inner Council Space. There is an asteroid belt full of raw materials necessary for ship construction, there's a Primary Relay a short FTL jump away that connects you to Turian Space. Now the extremely rare part of this system is, it contains 2 habitable worlds suitable for colonisation. Should you agree to join us, this system, is yours."

Silence dominated the space around the Quarian Admirals as they struggled to recover from the bombshell that they were just given. "Did...did you just say you would give us 2 habitable worlds for us to colonise." Admiral Raan stuttered, struggling to compose herself.

Sparatus nodded. "That is exactly what we said. We would like to welcome the Quarian people back into the Citadel by offering these worlds. No more running, no more staying aboard cramped ship board quarters. This is a permanent place to settle, to rebuild your civilisation on solid ground."

"And all you want is our support against the humans and their allies? Who, bear in mind, are already technologically superior to us." Admiral Xen questioned suspiciously. The Councilors simply nodded.

"Then what of the Geth? What of Rannoch?" Admiral Gerrel asked impatiently. "Do you expect us to abandon our homeworld?"

"Admiral Gerrel, the Geth have held Rannoch for centuries. Whether we like it or not, we have to at least acknowledge that they are a force to be reckoned with. Any military action against the Geth will tie up enough assets that could be brought to bear on the humans instead. Surely as a military man you must recognise this." Councilor Valern said, aware of the latest intelligence reports on the Geth. There was little information on the robotic civilisation, all that was known as their military might had exceeded all expectations.

"Our fleet is stronger than ever. We have to retake our homeworld, it is rightfully ours. We-"

"Han'Gerrel, we will talk about this later." Admiral Koris interrupted in. "Councilors, thank you for your proposal. But a decision like this is something we, the Admiralty Board, should not make alone. This is something the Quarian people as a whole should make. We shall call a session of the Conclave and contact you with a decision. That being said, what's stopping us from going to the humans and negotiating something with them."

Sparatus shifted uncomfortably, the humans being a sensitive topic for him. Tevos spoke up to save her fellow Councilor some face. "Nothing really. There is nothing the Council can do to prevent you from siding with the humans. But know this, we need you. The Council values you and everything that you can bring to the table. The humans will simply take pity on you, that's about it. Which option do you think will be able to control your future better? The side that needs you? Or the side that takes pity on you?"

The Admirals nodded their heads, it was sound logic. With the Council, they could predict things, how each species might react to different situations. With the humans, there were simply too many unknowns with them, there was no guarantee that they would even pity them in the first place. In short, they were a wild card. Based on what little intelligence they had, the humans and their allies were extremely powerful and militarily proficient. Ships larger than the size of the Citadel and impressive technologies were proof of that. Besides that, they really did not know much.

"A fair point Councilor. If there's nothing else, we need to return to the fleet." Admiral Koris asked, hinting that it was time to leave.

"No Admirals, that is all. You're free to leave." Tevos replied, smiling. With that, the Admirals took their leave, walking towards the elevator at the back of the Council chambers. They were discussing something amongst themselves with great enthusiasm as they stepped into the lift that would carry them to a nearby landing pad where a shuttle awaited to bring them back to their ship.

As the lift doors slid shut, Tevos turned towards her Salarian colleague. Valern was furiously typing away on his Omni tool, it was only a minute later he stopped and looked up at her. His reply was a simple nod, before glancing back towards the elevators. Sparatus shook his head slightly in disapproval, but these were desperate times, he understood the Citadels need for any advantage; internal and external.

It was a risky move, hacking the Admirals Omni tools would have some serious repercussions if discovered. It was fortunate that Valern was former STG, careful and methodical in his work, it would be very hard to detect anything he left behind. In this day and age, information and data was power, and planting a bug in the Quarian Admirals Omni tools simply contributed to the Councils steadily growing power. But it was risky, if the subterfuge is discovered, it guaranteed at least alienating the Quarians and at worst, a declaration of war and possibly even drive them into the arms of the Humans. It was a huge gamble, but the Council needed information on the Quarians and this was the only successful attempt to install a source at the highest levels of Quarian government.

* * *

 **Sunaion Military Base,**

 **Sanghelios**

Sanghelios, capital of the Sangheili Union, was a harsh place. Scorching deserts covered the interiors of most of the large land masses, forcing its inhabitants to make homes on the coasts and islands. The gravitational pull from each of the planet's two orbiting moons caused waves to rise as high as 20 meters. Harsh climates often made living on this world unforgivable and unattractive. Yet despite all this, Sanghelios was what the Sangheili were proud to call home. Moulded throughout the centuries, their home planet forged them into the strong and brutal people they were today. From the days before the Covenant till now, it's inhabitants had weathered the storms that faced them, the Great Schism being the most recent challenge.

For centuries, the Sangheili were the loyal fighting arm of the Covenant, shipmasters, field marshals and warriors who fought at the command of the Prophets. Until they were betrayed by those they swore to serve. The Great Schism saw the fracturing of the once powerful Covenant. It all started when the Jiralhanae, or Brutes as the humans more appropriately called them, with the Prophet's blessing began massacring the Sangheili. A bloody civil war ensued, claiming hundreds of ships, thousands of warriors, and enough planets turned to glass by plasma bombardment. It took 12 long years before the Arbiter, Thel Vadam, claimed victory. Rendering the Prophets species, the San Shyuum, extinct and placing the Jiralhanae under strict supervision and confined to their home planet of Doisac. Yet despite the optics of the war, one of the final battles was fought on Sanghelios itself. The floating city of Sunaion, once the last stronghold of the Covenant, was where the Prophets and their lackeys made their last stand. They made the Sangheili pay for every inch of ground with blood, thousands died taking the city, but in the end, the Arbiter stood victorious.

That was almost 30 years ago, Sunaion had since been converted into the de facto military headquarters of the entire Union. The Arbiter's own holding, Vadam Keep, was the actual capital with the bureaucracy being centered around it. But the leader of the Union often spent most of his time on the floating city. Since the end of the war, the city had been rebuilt to its former glory, though it primarily served as a massively oversized military base. It was the largest planetside military base in the galaxy, housing countless barracks, administration offices, hangars, defence emplacements, vehicle depots and shipyards. Not even the humans had a dedicated military base on a planet as large as Sunaion. Lances of Sangheili infantry were being drilled in a large clearing while Unggoy moved about maintaining the large collection of vehicles in a nearby depot. A trio of banshees whined over them to take their positions for patrol. A CCS class battlecruiser hovered above a landing pad, gravity lift sending down supplies and weapons from the manufacturing sites across Sanghelios, its repulsor engines emitting a loud humming sound drowning out any surrounding noise.

Overlooking the display of Union military prowess, Arbiter Thel Vadam, watched it over with pride. His people had come a long way, he still remembered the days when his people struggled to survive. After centuries of service to the false Prophets, his people had forgotten everything; how to be farmers, economists, intellectuals, teachers, doctors, everything that made a society run properly. Once they began their campaign against their former masters, everything was lacking. The once seemingly infinite resources given to the Sangheili by the Prophets were gone and food, medicine, consumer goods were all in high demand. His people faced ruin as a species, until the humans agreed to help them. In a desperate act, Thel agreed to trade the one advantage he had over the humans at the time, superior technology, in exchange for human aid to rebuild their society. Advisors of all sorts poured into Sanghelios, teaching them how to live as civilians. Till this day, he never expected or understand their generosity, even after nearly wiping out the humans. Human aid was flowing into Sanghelios, but bit by bit, they were turning control over back to the Union species.

The Unggoy, unsurprisingly, took well to the mass labour tasks like farming and shipbuilding. Most of the bureaucrats were Unggoy as well, that part was surprising. Thel had to give them credit, they were certainly smarter than they looked. Few Kig-Yar stayed after the civil war, most returned to their homeworld, carving out little fiefdoms with surplus war material on the way. Most turned into pirate or warlord like states, proving to be a nuisance to both the Federation and the Union. Yet they were not a serious enough threat to warrant a full scale pacification of their territory. The few that remained rose quickly to prominence in the Union's economic elite, their natural talent for commerce proving invaluable. In fact, Thel's own Minister of Trade was Kig Yar. The Mgalekgolo took the more specialized roles of heavy duty lifting, but most still served in the military. The Huragok seemed content with constantly repairing and improving every technological aspect of life, and Thel was quite happy to let them do just that. As for his own species, the Sangheili still primarily served as the fighting arm of the Union forces. Though some made the uneasy and difficult transfer from warriors to civilian life, becoming historians, intellectuals, teachers and leaders in their own right.

The sound of doors hissing open, followed by the thudding footsteps disrupted Thel's thoughts. Based on the frequency of steps, and how heavy they sounded, he knew exactly who it was as his side walked further in before stopping.

"Arbiter, your Majesty." A voice called out. "Fleetmaster Vadum requests to see you."

Pivoting, he wheeled around, his armor jingling slightly. "Send him in." He replied to his aide.

His aide saluted him before bowing out. In his place Imperial Fleetmaster Rtas'Vadum, Supreme Commander of the Union Armed Forces, took his place.

"Arbiter, Your Majesty." Vadum greeted his Commander in Chief with the formal titles granted by Thel's office.

Thel waved his hand in dismissance. "Funny, I explicitly remember ordering you to stop calling me that." He said seriously while closing the distance between them.

"You did. But where's the fun if I always obeyed _that_ order." Rtas replied, parting his mandibles in a way that would have been the human equivalent of a grin.

Thel simply shook his head slightly, "What do you have for me old friend?"

Pulling himself up a little straighter, Rtas adopted a formal and serious stance. "Kig-Yar pirates are raiding our shipping lanes in the outer colonies, I have dispatched patrol groups to police these lanes. Shipmaster Tescam reports that the Jiralhanae on Doisac are still fighting amongst each other. He also mentioned that two Kig-Yar corvettes were destroyed trying to smuggle weapons in. I suspect pirates. And I just got off a transmission with Admiral Dare."

"The head of ONI? What were you doing talking to her?" Thel asked curiously.

"She contacted me to brief me on the latest intelligence reports coming from Citadel space. It does not look promising. The Council races are proceeding with massive rearmament programs. ONI estimates that if they continue for another 8 years at this pace, they will pose a significant threat to our security. Not to mention that the Council's diplomatic Corp has been making overtures to the Batarians, Quarians and the Krogan. I've ordered elements from the Fleet Eternal Repentance to return to Relay 314 as a show of our support for the humans."

"I see." Thel replied firmly, it seemed that once again, war loomed on the horizon. "There's something else?" He sensed from his top military commander.

Vadum shuffled and hesitated for a moment. "I cannot confirm what I am about to say. She hinted the ongoing operations of an ONI blackops team in Citadel Space, and if I am interpreting her message correctly, she is asking us to provide support."

"What about their own assets?"

"According to our intelligence sources within the Federation, politics is forcing President Nakamura to adopt a policy of isolation. No military operations in Citadel space, covert or otherwise. If this is true, then Admiral Dare is operating on her own here. Not even the UNSC can spare assets."

"I see. ONI has always been acting on its own accord anyway, that shouldn't be surprising. But why did the humans decide to leave an embassy in Citadel Space if all they intend to do is isolate themselves from them." He paused for a moment debating to himself internally as a flight of banshees buzzed the viewport behind him. "By the way, did we manage to confirm the result of that radiation signature we detected a while ago?" Thel asked inquisitively.

"Yes Arbiter. We can confirm that the radiation signature we detected in orbit several weeks ago belonged to a stealth vessel, and a large one at that." Vadum replied sternly.

"And you're sure it wasn't one of ours?"

"Definitely. None of our own stealth vessels were in orbit at the time, and we most certainly do not have a stealth vessel as large as the signature suggests." Rtas pointed out, making a slight reference to a former Super Carrier.

Thel nodded, so ONI did indeed have a new toy, probably trying to close the gap in stealth warships with the Union. It was the one place they still held an advantage. "Well either way, I can spare a few groups from the Household Guard to be apart of this non-existent, existent, endeavour." The Imperial Household Guard were the Arbiter's loyal bodyguards and the Union's greatest intelligence agency. It's members were deeply loyal to the Arbiter alone, and answered directly to him. "Do we have any ships available for the operation?"

"We have one available, the stealth destroyer _Inquisitor._ She returned to Sanghelios two days ago."

"See that it's done then my friend." Thel ordered.

"I shall carry out your orders Arbiter." Rtas saluted, before turning and walking out.

* * *

 **Quarian Vessel (QV)** _ **Neema,**_ **Quarian Heavy Cruiser**

 **Deep Space en route to Migrant Fleet**

The _Neema_ and her small squadron of escorts sped through FTL as they covered the remaining distance till the Migrant Fleet. The Migrant Fleet's location was always on the move, moving from system to system while keeping its next location known only to the members of the Admiralty Board. To rendezvous with the Fleet, the flotilla had jumped through four Secondary Relays, and another three FTL jumps to throw off any pursuers. They had also deliberately avoided all Primary Relays and crowded shipping lanes, All this in the name of security, to preserve the location of the Migrant Fleet. The crew were confident they lost the last STG ship stalking them after the second FTL jump. The remaining jump was for good measure. Deep in the bowels of the _Neema,_ arguments were being thrown around the small meeting room.

"This is an opportunity we cannot afford to pass up!" Admiral Koris exclaimed, his excited voice dominating the small room the Quarian Admiralty was using. He was clearly excited at the prospect of permanent settlement on a planet, and his point was valid. His civilians had spent generations aboard a nomadic fleet, permanent settlement seemed close enough to heaven.

"But what of Rannoch Zaal'Koris? You want to just abandon the home world to the Geth? The homeworld where our ancestors lived freely." Admiral Gerrel argued back.

"Han'Gerrel you and I both know the Geth are too strong. Think of the losses-"

"Are you suggesting that the Quarian people cannot defeat the Geth Zaal'Koris?" Admiral Xen finally said, she had even been silent nearly throughout the entire meeting with the Council.

Admiral Koris fell silent for a moment. "I'm not saying we can't. What I am saying is that retaking Rannoch will cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of our people. Is that a price we are willing to pay…"

His voice faded out as Shala'Raan started focusing on the future of her people. It was a tempting offer, permanent settlement for the Quarian people. A new system, new planets - almost as if her wishes for a clean slate had finally been granted. But as much as she didn't approve of Gerrel, he had a point, Rannoch was their home. To abandon it would be to abandon the dream that all Quarians held dear to them, almost as if cutting out a part of themselves. Yet it had been hundreds of years since they were chased out, counter-attacks had been attempted and all had failed. Was it finally time to abandon their home and start anew, was it worth the cost? Then there was the argument that was starting to emerge amongst the civilians, a popular revisionist view on the Morning War. The view that if the Geth AI had achieved sentience, surely they deserve the right to live like any other living being. What or who gave the Quarians the power to play god, to determine who should live and who should die.

"Shala'Raan'? Are you with us?" A voice called out to her. Shala'Raan broke her train of thought and looked up. Her fellow Admirals were staring at her, letting out a vibe of confusion and concern.

"Apologies Admirals, I was lost in thought. You were saying?" She asked curiously, a tiny bit of her feeling guilty for not listening in.

"Zaal'Koris here was explaining his view on how we could co-exist peacefully with the Geth. I was reminding him that the Geth have been killing us wherever they find us since the Morning War. What do you think though? Can we as a people exist with these monsters?" Gerrel reminded her. He had always taken a hardline against the Geth, he acknowledged that they created them, but was steadfast in his belief that Rannoch was rightfully theirs.

"If I'm honest Han'Gerrel, I'm not sure if we can. Most of our people still hold great amounts of animosity towards them and call for their destruction everyday. Others wish to move on and settle elsewhere. But living with the Geth? I really am not sure about that, its something that's rarely been considered. There is a strong movement within the civilian fleet to colonize a new world and start over but the military favors an offensive against the Geth. If we simply ignored their calls, we risk splitting our people." No one wanted to bring it up, but there were recent internal tensions within the Migrant fleet. The populace was split between reclaiming Rannoch, starting over elsewhere, and peacefully coexisting with the Geth. Protests on the liveships were held, with a few ending in violence. The worse case was when a liveships complement of Marines were called in to disperse crowds through - extreme methods even by Quarian standards. Regardless, it was no secret within Quarian Society that the Admiralty were placing their entire species on a war-footing.

"I think we can take the Geth on." Xen said aloud. Shala'Raan turned to face her . "My team and I have made significant inroads into Geth countermeasures, as well as new developments for us."

The mere mention of weaponry attracted the full attention of the commander of the Heavy Fleet. "What new developments have you made?" Admiral Gerrel asked, keen on upgrading his ships firepower even more than were designed to handle.

Admiral Xen opened her omni-tool, and sent over a file to her colleagues. "We've designed new capacitors that allow for a greater storage leading to a maximum of 3% increase in fire rate for our mass accelerators. The Guardian array targeting systems has been reworked, we added several hundred lines of codes and parameters that enable us to track fighters with more precision. Some small chemical and material tweaks to the raw ship building materials we extract will increase our ships armour by an average of 2%, of course this value varies on the ships class and date of commission. We are also currently field testing a new jamming device that prevents Geth units from communicating with each other, effectively cutting off their chain of command, if they have such a thing."

Shala'Raan was scrolling through the file, and while she did not hold Admiral Xen in the highest regard, the work that she had accomplished given her limited resources was impressive. Everything in the report seemed promising, but there was another item on it that caught her interest. "What about this project - Project Pallu'Kaziel, it says incomplete but its still in the report. What is it?"

Shala'Raan could feel Xen's tight grin concealed behind her visor. "Project Pallu'Kaziel is an experimental project that I am personally overseeing, it's currently in its final stages of troubleshooting - hence why it is labeled as incomplete. Once finished, it will change space warfare as we know it." She paused for a moment as she let the seriousness of her claim hang in the air. "Project Pallu'Kaziel is a device that will be able to simulate an artificial gravity well. Theoretically, the generated gravitational fields are strong enough to draw ships in towards itself, but it's nothing our engines cannot compensate for. But the field is strong enough to trigger an FTL drive's failsafe. The idea of this device will be to 'pull' ships from FTL or to prevent them from escaping through FTL."

The room was silent, if what Xen just said was true, it was ground-breaking. It would give the Migrant Fleet the ability to dictate the fields of engagements and put them into a superior tactical position they would never have been in before. "Daro, if what you say is true, this will give us an advantage never seen before. Are you absolutely sure about this project?" Admiral Koris questioned, somewhat skeptical about the realistic applications of the design.

"Zaal'Koris, I rarely joke about things in life. But I most certainly do not joke about my work. We've begun running field tests on the _Moreh._ The initial results prove promising. All galactic FTL drives, at least those we are aware off, have an automated fail-safe built into them that deactivates the drive when a gravity well is detected on the intended path of travel of the vessel. The same goes for when a vessel attempts to jump too close to a gravity well, the FTL drives refuse to allow the vessel to jump due to the presence of the gravity well."

Shala'Raan frowned, "Doesn't that mean that if the device is active, our ships cannot jump as well?" It was an obvious concern, the Migrant Fleet had to pick its fights carefully, and as such, running from fights they could not win was definitely common.

"Yes, alongside the sheer amount of power that the device requires, those are the only downsides we are aware off." Admiral Xen conceded, annoyed at the flaw that plagued her design. "But think of the tactical advantage we would have. No more surprise attacks from pirates or mercenaries. Every Geth ship we encounter can be prevented from retreating. Surely you must see that the benefits of Project Pallu'Kaziel outweighs the downsides."

The other members of the Admiralty Board simply nodded their heads in approval. It was certainly an advantage, and if the near future was going to go according to plan, they needed every advantage they could get.

"What about the Council's offer then? What do we do about that?" Admiral Koris asked the room, his voice giving off a defeated tone, almost as if he could foresee the reaction that was to come.

"I do not trust them. The Citadel has proven untrustworthy before and we have no way of confirming if their offer is even genuine." Admiral Gerrel answered.

"Yet the chance that it is genuine remains. Admirals I am sorry, but if there is a chance that my civilians can live on another world without losing anyone to Geth, I must seize the opportunity. I was hesitant enough to put weapons onto my ships, but I assumed that they would be used in defensive operations only. What you are suggesting is an offensive measure to retake Rannoch and take it from the Geth, which I remind you are considered sentient beings now. This is something I cannot agree to. For the sake of the civilian population, I beg you, do not attack Rannoch." Admiral Koris pleaded, almost sounding desperate.

Shala'Raan felt sorry for him, this was a man who truly cared for all those who served under his command. She wanted to agree with him and take up the Council's offer, but Han'Gerrel made a very good point. The Citadel had a history of backstabbing those it made deals with. She was left deep in thought while Admiral Xen went on about how the new technological advances would render the Geth war machine useless. By this point Koris was practically begging his colleagues not to carry out the attack on Rannoch, even threatening to take his civilian fleet and defect to the Council to save their lives. The response to that threat went as expected, Han'Gerrel nearly had him arrested for treason on the spot, Daro'Xen only managed to stop him that if they did that they would only guarantee the defection of the civilian fleet, guaranteeing the loss of the logistics train of the Migrant Fleet.

"Admirals," Shala'Raan finally said, "this is a decision we cannot make alone. We must convene the Conclave. This is a decision our people must make. But under no circumstances can we split, for if we are divided, we will fall to ruin."

That seemed to stop the argument, just as they felt the slightest shudder and change in momentum. Years of experience aboard vessels told them that they had just dropped from FTL.

"Admiral Han'Gerrel," A voice called out from hidden speakers in the room, "we have rendezvoused with the Fleet. Rejoining the Heavy Fleet formation. Admiral Daro'Xen, we have a priority message coming in for you."

As Admiral Xen acknowledged the message and moved away to read it, Admiral Gerrel replied. "Very well Captain, I'm on my way to the bridge." He looked to Shala'Raan, contemplating for a split second. "Captain, send the following notice to all ships, call for a meeting of the Conclave in three standard hours."

"Very well Admiral."

"Have the other Admirals shuttles prepared for departure-"

"We have a problem." Admiral Xen suddenly cut in, The Quarians Admirals turned to face her, Han'Gerrel somewhat annoyed at the interruption. "I sent one of our research ships to investigate reports of a Prothean structure at the fridges of the galaxy."

Zaal'Koris frown was hidden behind his visor. "So what's the problem?"

"We found the structure. But it's not Prothean. It's a structure of unknown origin."

Silence prevailed over room, even the humming of computers seemed to quieten down. Everything became still, with only a holographic map rotating slowly in the background.

"What do you mean it's not Prothean?" Shala'Raan finally caved to the suspense.

* * *

 _Office of Naval Intelligence_

 _Clearance:_ Level 6 (ONI Senior Admiralty)

 _Department_ : Cerberus

 _Report Subject:_ Message to Captain Anderson regarding intercepted Citadel Council communique

 _Date Published:_ 14th February 2592

 _Captain,_

 _This is top priority. Our source on the Citadel has been alerted to the existence of a structure of unknown origin on the fringes of the galaxy near Quarian controlled space (if you can really refer to it as that). It is not Prothean, it could possibly be Forerunner. In the event that it is the latter, secure the facility. If that can not be achieved, destroy it. Under no circumstances can the Council or the Quarians be granted access to a Forerunner site. We believe that the information originates from a Council placed source within the Quarian Migrant Fleet._

 _Also, all actions against the Quarian Migrant Fleet is to be put on hold unless if it contradicts the above. The Navy is using whatever influence they have in the Senate to push through a motion to open talks with Migrant Fleet. The chances of a Federation-Quarian alliance will be likely if this motion gets passed._

 _Stay Vigilant,_

 _Admiral Dare_


End file.
